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The Anatomy Lesson: Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On Beauty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Nature of Beauty
Politics in Academia
Race and Identity
The Value of Family
Summary
Analysis
Wellington closes for Christmas, but workers continue to shovel the heavy snow. There are plenty of dull holiday parties, and Kiki is always disappointed to that she never sees Carlene with Monty at them. Finally, one day Kiki gets a note from Carlene suggesting a shopping trip for Christmas presents, so Kiki calls a taxi and takes Carlene into Boston.
Once again, the class divide on campus becomes relevant, with working-class staff forced to shovel snow even when the privileged faculty have gone home for the holidays. Meanwhile, although Kiki and Carlene have become close, the fact that Carlene continues to act mysteriously even around Kiki suggests that she’s hiding something.
Themes
Carlene enjoys Christmas shopping, but Kiki doesn’t really like any kind of shopping. Carlene and Monty have Christmas plans to borrow a house in Amherst near where Emily Dickinson used to live. Kiki says Howard can’t stand Christmas, and Carlene notes that Howard seems to hate a lot of things.
Howard’s worldview is so secular that he seemingly goes out of his way to avoid getting wrapped up in Christmas celebrations. Carlene’s wry observation that Howard hates a lot of things points to Howard’s confused sense of self: his identity focuses on the things he hates, perhaps because he has no sense of what he actually likes.
Themes
Carlene says maybe Kiki should make the trip to Amherst with them, since Kiki likes Edward Hopper, who has paintings there. Kiki says maybe another time. But after they part ways, Kiki can’t stop thinking about the offer, and eventually, she goes back to Carlene to say that she accepts. The rest of the Kippses are there, including Monty, Victoria, Michael, and a woman (Amelia) who seems to be his fiancé. But then Monty says there’s a problem with the house in Amherst, and Carlene says maybe she and Kiki will have to take a trip some other time.
Kiki finally gets the courage to do something impulsive and something for herself instead of her family, but her efforts come to nothing. Once again, Carlene’s strange behavior—inviting Kiki on a trip, only to later cancel it—raises questions about what’s really going on with Carlene and with the Kipps family as a whole. While Carlene promises that she and Kiki will go on a trip at some later point, the fact that the second part of the book ends here gives this passage a slightly ominous sense of finality.
Themes
