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Chapter 4: Introduction to Chemistry
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
Although Elizabeth and Calvin enjoy a happy and exciting first few months of their relationship, many of their co-workers think that Elizabeth only likes Calvin because he is famous. They make such assumptions without ever asking Elizabeth and Calvin how they really feel. If they did, they would learn that Elizabeth and Calvin truly love each other.
The assumption that Elizabeth's affection is linked to Calvin's fame is a critique of how society often reduces the complexity of women's agency, especially if they are in a relationship with a man of Calvin’s fame and stature.
Themes
The only issue in Elizabeth and Calvin’s relationship—other than the disrespect they receive from their peers—is that they have put off the subject of family. At first, they did not discuss the subject accidentally, but eventually it was on purpose because neither wanted to share their background with the other.
The subject of family, which Calvin and Elizabeth both deliberately avoid, represents a deeper layer of personal vulnerability that both characters are hesitant to expose to the other. It suggests that both Elizabeth and Calvin have past traumas that they are not yet ready to share, even with each other.
Themes
One day, just before Thanksgiving, Calvin works up the courage to ask Elizabeth if she will be going anywhere for the holidays. This turns into a larger conversation about their families. Calvin explains that he has no family to go to because a train hit and killed his parents when he was five. After, he went to live with his aunt, who also died in a freak accident a few years later. Finally, he ended up in a Catholic boys home, which he hated.
Calvin's history of displacement, with the tragic deaths of his parents and aunt, followed by an unhappy time in a boys home, paints a picture of a man who has faced significant adversity from a young age. He is one of several characters in the novel who grows up without knowing one or both of his parents.
Themes
Elizabeth explains that she also had a rough upbringing: Elizabeth’s father was a religious charlatan who went around claiming the world was about to end. Then, he would capitalize on people’s fear by selling them trinkets that he claimed would protect them. Elizabeth’s mother aided her father, and so Elizabeth despises them both. She also had to move around a lot as a child because her father was constantly being run out of town.
Elizabeth's revelation about her father being a religious charlatan and her mother's complicity provides a background of disillusionment, explaining her distaste for deception and perhaps contributing to her desire for sincerity and scientific truth in her professional life. Throughout the book, she expresses distaste for religion, which likely originated from this part of her life.
Themes
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Additionally, Elizabeth had a brother, John, who was gay. Elizabeth’s parents tormented John because of his sexuality, which eventually drove him to suicide. Eventually, Elizabeth’s parents abandoned her altogether—although she was practically raising herself before anyway—because Elizabeth’s father was arrested for murdering three people when one of his “miracles” went wrong. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s mother fled the country to avoid being brought up on charges of tax evasion.
This aspect of Elizabeth’s past not only explains her independence and resilience but also highlights the stigma surrounding homosexuality that was present at the time. Here and elsewhere, Elizabeth acts as a woman ahead of her time, though in reality, she is simply showing affection for someone she cares for—something her fraudster parents could never do.
Themes
Elizabeth and Calvin are both surprised by what the other has to say. However, neither presses the other to give information they are not comfortable with sharing. Instead, they go to sleep and decide they will talk about the topic another time, even though neither of them wants to.
This conversation demonstrates that an intimacy has developed between Elizabeth and Calvin, as sharing such painful memories is a significant step in their relationship. However, there are aspects of themselves that they still want to keep secret.
Themes
