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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in News of the World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fatherhood and Masculinity
American Multiculturalism and Racial Violence
News and Storytelling
Childhood and Innocence
War and Reconstruction
Summary
Analysis
Although Captain Kidd is determined to get out of town without trouble, the Horrell brothers track him down as he’s unharnessing the horses near a spring. They pull up on beautiful horses, wearing mismatched military uniforms, and ask the Captain why they aren’t in the news. The Captain tries to placate them by saying it’s quite possible they’ve appeared in Eastern newspapers that aren’t available here. One of the brothers insists that they deserve to be written about, given that they’ve “killed a right smart of Mexicans.” Captain Kidd dryly asks if anyone objects to this bloodshed, but the men say that Davis has fired all the officials aligned with the Confederacy and never replaced them.
By wearing mismatched uniforms, the Horrell brothers function as a parody of the actual army—which, like them, is confused and ineffectual in carrying out its goals. The brothers’ blatant racism shows that while ethnic diversity has influenced America positively, racial violence is a strong force underpinning the country’s history. Additionally, the brothers’ assertion that they are able to persecute Mexicans because of the fall of the Confederacy highlights the failure of Reconstruction government.
Themes
The Horrell brothers loftily command Captain Kidd to come to the saloon that night and read the news. Captain Kidd politely says that he’ll come later in the evening; he knows that by then, they’ll be too drunk to remember him. By ten o’clock, he can hear them carousing in the saloon. On the other side of the spring, he can see horses, and he knows that the first set of brothers are guarding him and Johanna for the night. Instead of sleeping, he sits up with his revolver all night.
Even though the first set of brothers, whom Captain Kidd and Johanna met outside the town, seem like vigilantes, their watchful presence shows their redeeming qualities. The long journey is teaching Captain Kidd to subtle kindnesses that he previously ignored.
Themes
