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Chapter 14: Kenny
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Five Little Indians, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Resilience and Redemption
Cruelty and Trauma
Family
Finding Home
Summary
Analysis
One month after Kenny’s funeral, Lucy receives a document informing her that she is the beneficiary of a $300,000 life insurance policy Kenny had. It’s just another example of how much he loved Lucy and Kendra. Lucy tells Kendra this and tells her how the abuse he suffered at the residential school permanently damaged him. Afterward, she goes to her bedroom to look at the few photographs she has of Kenny: one from their City Hall wedding, one of him standing outside her old apartment, one of him holding baby Kendra. She weeps.
Kenny couldn’t be present in Lucy’s or Kendra’s life in the way he wanted to be—or that they might have wanted him to be—but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t love them. His insurance policy demonstrates his care. And it also testifies to how hard he worked throughout his life. He couldn’t fully recover from what he suffered at the school, but his sacrifices mean a better life for Lucy and Kendra.
Themes
Clara comes over later that day. Like Kendra, she’s surprised and impressed by this evidence of Kenny’s love. She calls the insurance company to find out what Lucy needs to do next. She reminds Lucy that she’ll need to take her ID with her to get her check. Then, the two women tell Kendra the story of the fake IDs they used to get on welfare. Lucy uses the money to put a down payment on a nice house in the neighborhood as an investment for Kendra’s future. But she refuses to leave her little rented house because she can’t walk away from the memories it holds.
Outside of the residential school, Lucy worked hard to make a family and a home where she—and the people she loved—could feel safe and secure. Her ability to do so testifies to her loving nature and her reserves of strength and courage. She’s come a long way from the terrified new mother using a fake ID to get on welfare. Her unwillingness to leave the house reminds readers of her deep and abiding affection for Kenny. It’s also a heartbreaking reminder of how many things she’s lost in her life. Her home and her memories are one thing she will not willingly give up.
Themes
