"Now hoppin'-john was F. Jasmine's very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose when she was in her coffin, to make certain there was no mistake; for if a breath of life was left in her, she would sit up and eat, but if she smelled the hopping-john, and did not stir, then they could just nail down the coffin and be certain she was truly dead."

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Source: Carson McCullers (2010). “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter”, p.191, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Carson McCullers

Novelist

Carson McCullers was an American novelist and playwright known for her poignant exploration of loneliness and identity in works like 'The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.'

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