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Chapter 20: Life Story
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
On her first day back to Hastings, Donatti gifts Elizabeth a lab coat with her initials (“E.Z.”) sewn in. Previously, her lab coat read: “E. Zott.” Her re-entry is met with laughter from her colleagues when she dons the coat. Donatti surprises her by requesting to see all her work on abiogenesis, leaving Elizabeth puzzled about how he knew of her research outside of Hastings. She suspects Boryweitz, whom she had previously caught snooping through her files, as the source of this information.
The “E.Z.” on Elizabeth’s coat is a pun on “easy,” which is meant to imply that Elizabeth is sexually promiscuous. If Elizabeth did not immediately understand the pun, her colleagues ill-disguised laughter quickly gave it away. Elizabeth’s first interactions of the day suggest that Hastings is just as bad as ever, if not worse. Whether Elizabeth likes it or not, she is indelibly linked to Calvin, and he is not around to shield her.
Themes
Donatti then addresses Elizabeth with the demeaning nickname “Luscious,” and he informs her that her role will be as a lab tech rather than a chemist. Donatti also offers her a correspondence course in dictation before leaving for a meeting. Elizabeth is outraged because Donatti had previously promised Elizabeth her old position back. She does not think she can survive on the lower pay that comes with the lab tech job.
Again, Donatti uses language that intends to demean Elizabeth and lower her status in the workplace. Donatti thinks he can get away with treating Elizabeth however he wants because he knows she needs the money. However, he is walking a delicate line, as the job has significantly lowered in value in Elizabeth’s eyes.
Themes
Elizabeth, infuriated, encounters Frask in the bathroom. Frask is frustrated about having to report to a recently hired young man instead of receiving a promotion herself. During their encounter, Frask accuses Elizabeth of pretending to be a man to get her research published. Elizabeth vehemently denies the accusation, and their exchange escalates into a heated argument. This confrontation leads to the revelation that both women left their PhD programs after their thesis directors sexually assaulted them.
This is a significant moment for both Frask and Elizabeth, as they discover that they are more alike than they previously realized. The fact that both woman had the same experience in college demonstrates how tolerant their field is of the mistreatment of women, failing to hold men accountable for their crimes and punishing those men’s female victims.
Themes
