Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Out of the Dust, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Billie Jo’s father is waiting for her when her train arrives. When Billie Jo sees him, she calls him “Daddy,” which she has not said since before her mother’s death. They walk home together, and Billie Jo explains why she ran away and why she returned. She feels that she belongs in the Panhandle but knows she cannot raise herself. In response, her father promises that things will be different from now on. He has finished digging his pond, and he promises to see Doc Rice about the spots on his skin. As they make their way home together, Billie Jo feels herself starting to forgive her father for leaving the kerosene next to the stove.
Billie Jo and her father finally have the frank conversation they’ve needed to have since Billie Jo’s mother died. For the first time, Billie Jo’s father feels like a parent again, as well as someone who places value on their own life—for his daughter’s sake if not for his own. Even though Billie Jo previously told herself she would never forgive her father for leaving the kerosene near the stove, she is starting to change her mind. As she begins to forgive her father, she also begins to come of age.
Themes
