Previous
Chapter 22: The Present
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
Meanwhile, Walter Pine is stressed about finding a suitable show for an empty afternoon slot on TV. His boss has warned him that he might lose his job if he fails. He tolerates his demanding boss because he needs the job to support his daughter, Amanda, as he is a single father. He recalls a recent visit from Elizabeth, who complained about Amanda's lunch being stolen.
Here, the novel comes full circle and returns to where it started; Walter has just met with Elizabeth, who is upset because Amanda has been eating Madeline’s lunch. Walter and Elizabeth are in similar situations: they are single parents with jobs they tolerate for the sake of their children.
Themes
Meanwhile, Elizabeth discovers that two months into her lab tech job at Hastings, Donatti has plagiarized her research and published it under his own name in Science Journal, crediting Boryweitz as a co-author. Outraged, she confronts them and resigns. Back home, Harriet informs Elizabeth about calls from Walter, and Madeline is shocked to learn that Elizabeth spoke to Amanda’s father. Madeline tries to explain that she only shared her lunch with Amanda because she thought Amanda’s needed better foods in her diet. However, despite Madeline’s protest, Elizabeth insists that stealing is wrong.
Despite what the start of the novel may suggest, Elizabeth does not leave her job at Hastings for a cooking show on television—rather, she leaves Hastings on principle, and the television job happens to fall into her lap. Although Elizabeth is willing to put up with a lot for Madeline’s sake, there are some lines that she will not allow Donatti to cross. Unfortunately, for the moment, she is once again left without a job.
Themes
Meanwhile, Madeline’s teacher, Mrs. Mudford, disapproves of both Amanda and Madeline. She dislikes Amanda for being difficult, which she attributes to Amanda’s being raised by a single father. She also disapproves of Madeline for her advanced skills and boyish interests, like wanting to read the work of Vladimir Nabokov.
Like her mother, Madeline is a problem for a social space that does not know how to handle her. Vladimir Nabokov, the author Madeline is reading, is most famous for his novel Lolita, which tells the story of a pedophile preying upon an adolescent girl. Its content was controversial among adults, and, for obvious reasons, it was not considered appropriate for children.
Themes
Madeline expresses her dislike for school and asks Elizabeth about their financial status. Her questions lead Elizabeth to recall finding letters among Calvin's things, including offers from top universities. She knows he only accepted his role at Hastings because of the weather in Southern California. All the other offers would have given him much better pay than Hastings, which paid him an insultingly low amount, thanks to Donatti.
Elizabeth knows the current situation is not tenable and, once again, she finds that Donatti is to blame for her problems. Unfortunately, Calvin never cared about Donatti’s interference while he was alive because he did not have a child to think about.
Themes
Get the entire Lessons in Chemistry LitChart as a printable PDF.
While going through Calvin’s things, Elizabeth also finds a letter in which he expresses hatred toward his father. This confuses Elizabeth, who was under the impression that Calvin’s father was dead. Additionally, there are also letters from people claiming to be relatives, including one from a woman claiming to be his biological mother and offering money for his research.
Here, Elizabeth learns that there were many things she never learned about Calvin because his death cut their relationship short. She also gets a sense of what it is like to be in Calvin’s shoes, with many people claiming they’re related to him in order to be close to a famous person. The detail of the woman claiming to be his biological mother offering him money, though, suggests that her claim might be legitimate: if she were merely an opportunist, why would she offer him money? This question remains unanswered for now and so builds intrigue.
Themes
Later, as Elizabeth is eating dinner, Walter calls her with a proposal for her to host a cooking show. Although she dislikes the idea of being reduced to a TV cook, she considers it due to the attractive pay, especially after quitting her job at Hastings.
The proposal for Elizabeth to host a cooking show introduces a dilemma between financial stability and personal integrity. On the one hand, she does not want to be a cultural representative for keeping women in the home. However, on the other hand, she needs money in order to provide for Madeline.
Themes
