Lack of emotion in the novel

After listening to the presentation that Maia gave in class today, I couldn't help but wonder how the novel would have really changed if there had been more emotion present.

The main area in which this occurred to me, which was also the main theme of Maia's presentation was the relationship between Colehouse Walker and Sarah. I would like to imagine them living with such romance as depicted in the presented songs.

The first song Maia presented, "Your Daddy's Son", gave a kinda history that i wished was present in the book. The song refers to Colehouse in being a musician had many women and there was no way that he could want to falling love with Sarah and raise a child. As much insight this provides into the history that Colehouse and Sarah have I would have like to have seen it portrayed in the novel, with more such as to how they met and how their relationship was. Was it just a 1 night stand or did they date for a few week/a couple months? In this song we do get the despair and the voice of Sarah as she is burying the baby in the garden, which would have been great to have gotten in the novel. After Mother finds the baby in the garden and take in both Sarah and the baby the first words Sarah speaks are when she says to send away Colehouse. She is not said to utter a word about the burial or to even provide an explanation for it. Even after the appearance of Colehouse there is not much mention of what drove her to feeling the need to bury her baby.

The second song "Wheels of a Dream" is the most compelling and what I really wish had been in the novel. It may seem somewhat backward that Colehouse should court Sarah after they had already had a child together, but I find it as a way of justifying what they did wrong the first time around. Though it is made evident that Colehouse was indeed in love with Sarah when he goes into his rage after her murder, but we don't really witness this before her death. I would have appreciated the story of Colehouse and Sarah more if there had been more of a romance between them. If they had maybe actually taken a day and went on a drive in his Model T or went on a picnic. If he maybe played a song for her on the piano. I also would have liked to have seen Colehouse, Sarah, and the baby represented as their own family. Colehouse and Sarah making plans for the future of their child and for their own future as in moving out of the family's home.

The lack of emotion in the novel and especially in the story of Colehouse and Sarah does not prevent us from making a connection with the character but it does make it more difficult. I don't know how I can sympathize with Sarah without knowing what she was thinking when burying her baby. Sure I can assume that it was an act of desperation, but how will I ever know for sure??