Character Analysis
Fonsiba's the daughter of Tennie and Tomey's Turl, the lovers ultimately responsible for the marriage of Sophonsiba #1 and Uncle Buck. She moved to Arkansas and married an African American "farmer" who doesn't actually farm, lives on his and his deceased father's pension, and will gladly let his wife starve for half the month when they run out of the pension money. Fonsiba's life seems really miserable on the so-called "farm," which in actuality is a small, badly built log cabin.
So Isaac makes an arrangement with the bank for Fonsiba to get $3 on the fifteenth of every month until her $1000 legacy runs out. That way she'll be able to survive for the rest of her life. Fonsiba's a quiet, downtrodden African American woman who marries someone unsuitable only to escape the fate of having to work for her white relatives. Despite her situation, she tells Isaac that she's free and that's what's important.