August breaks the stereotype of black women in the South during this period. She lives in her own home with her two sisters and runs a successful business. Although she was once a housekeeper for Lily's mother, August also graduated from college and became a high school teacher. She also decided not to marry because it would take away some of her independence. Lily has never met a woman — let alone a black woman — like this in her world.
August's most important function in the novel is to help Lily on her way to maturity and acceptance of herself as a good human being. Prior to Lily's arrival, August takes care of her two sisters and provides a warm, safe community for them and for other friends. She shelters May from the worst of her fears as long as she can, and she doesn't tell June what would be best for her, instead letting her find it out herself. She has created a religion that will help Lily find her own beliefs and help others to be stronger and more spiritual. For Lily, August's image of Mary is a stand-in at first for her mother, and later a symbol of the strength of women. August holds her religious community together and provides a black spiritual image for the Daughters of Mary.
