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Chapter 11: Budget Cuts
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lessons in Chemistry, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender Inequality
Science vs. Religion
Overcoming Tragedy and Trauma
Family
Summary
Analysis
Elizabeth is distraught when she learns about what happened to Calvin. She feels responsible for his death because she asked him to start using a leash with Six-Thirty. When Elizabeth arrives at Calvin’s funeral, she and Six-Thirty stand far away from the crowd, which is full of grieving rowers and scientists who have come to pay their respects.
A reporter spots Elizabeth and begins asking her questions about Calvin. The reporter does not realize who Elizabeth is and speaks rather casually. Elizabeth does nothing to correct him and, in fact, purposely leads him to believe that Calvin was simply an acquaintance. She also tells the reporter she is blind when he objects to her having a dog in the graveyard. Then, when the funeral starts to get underway, she walks away from the reporter to join everyone else.
Because Elizabeth and Calvin never married, most people outside of Hastings do not know that they were a couple. Elizabeth has no desire to speak with the reporter, who she thinks has an unfair view of Calvin, and so she tells an obvious lie, knowing that the reporter will soon discover that she is not blind.
Themes
The following day, Elizabeth goes to work, where Donatti promises to support her any way he can. However, neither he nor the other employees do anything else to comfort Elizabeth—in fact, they purposely ignore her. Elizabeth walks to Calvin’s lab and is shocked to find that everything has already been cleaned and packed away. She looks in a box of Calvin’s personal belongings and sees the ring he intended to give her.
As usual, Donatti’s actions fail to live up to his words. Although he claims he will be supportive, his track record suggests that he will not follow through on that promise. Meanwhile, the ring Elizabeth finds reminds her of the importance of her relationship with Calvin, even if they did not express their love for each other through the traditional means of marriage.
Themes
As Elizabeth looks at the ring and thinks about everything she has lost, Frask enters the lab. She sees Elizabeth going through Calvin’s things and warns her that she is not allowed to touch them. Her language makes it obvious that she does not approve of Elizabeth and Calvin’s relationship. Additionally, Frask spots Six-Thirty and warns Elizabeth that she cannot bring him to Hastings anymore. Frask says that Six-Thirty was only tolerated because of Calvin, and Elizabeth will no longer be able to hide behind Calvin for protection.
Here, Frask is particularly cruel to Elizabeth. She does not even attempt to fake that she is sad for Elizabeth, as Donatti and other members of Hastings did. Rather, she is direct in his distaste for Elizabeth and vocalizes the opinions of the rest of the office. Now that Calvin is gone, Frask sees no reason to play nice with Elizabeth, even while she is still grieving.
Themes
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Frask also hands Elizabeth an article written by the reporter she met at Calvin’s funeral. The article is unflattering toward both Elizabeth and Calvin. As she reads the article, Elizabeth begins feeling physically ill. She turns away and vomits, assuming the reaction is part of the grieving process. However, when she voices this opinion, Frask tells her she is naïve and that she is ill because she is pregnant.
The article shows how the media can distort truth, particularly when a reporter has a bias against the subject they are reporting on. Meanwhile, if Frask is correct about Elizabeth’s condition, it appears that Elizabeth is about to face the one role she has always pushed back against: motherhood.
Themes
