Mysterious southern ways

The Son has social insights that are entirely new to me:

As for JFK, it had not surprised her. The year he died, there were still living Texans who had seen their parents scalped by Indians.

JFK: modern, photographed and videod, liberal with a clear and short history leading directly to our present day. What a vivid and visceral connection to the frontier past. What a fine way to show how young the USA really is.

I don't understand why Jeannie wasn't surprised. There is something going on with the south and with JFK that is beyond my current knowledge of American history. Did the south hate him? The quote on the above photograph, ludicrously place to obscure his face, seems to imply he had at least some sympathy with the way of life as portrayed in The Son.

It has been the social insights that have entertained and impressed me most with this novel. But today there was a passage that was very well judged:

It occurs to me that María might wake up one morning and see me as the others do, that her love may prove deciduous,[...]

Love that spans a few seasons, from spring to darker days. It is a lovely and sensitive metaphor and has gone some small way to convincing me that the novel has more to offer than just an exceptionally engaging story.