AI ToolsNew
Tools to make learning and teaching easier
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss
Grief and Trauma
Colonialism and Land Use
Stories and Religion
Humor
Summary
Analysis
Maggie’s brief interaction with the cosmically chaotic John has already started to impact her, as she takes a break from bureaucracy to spend time with Virgil. Virgil, though, is less charmed than his mother and remains suspicious of the stranger.
Themes
Later that night, John breaks into the Otter Lake church and looks at the statue of Jesus on the cross, trying to understand why he is so popular. He doesn’t grasp the appeal of Christianity, but he feels some kinship with Jesus because both were born of a human mother and a father who left them to their fates. He leaves and sits outside the Seconds’ house as the sun rises. When he leaves, he is aware of racoons watching him.
John is a powerful entity, and potentially a threatening one––his secret surveillance of the Seconds’ house comes across as more than a little sinister. However, he is also insecure and burdened with baggage from the past that he has yet to resolve.
Themes
Upgrade to unlock the analysis and theme tracking for all of Motorcycles & SweetgrassMotorcycles & Sweetgrass!
Get LitCharts A+
