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 wakes up in the middle of the night, shaking from a dream she had. In the dream, Billie Jo walks home in a terrible dust storm. Dust gets in every nook and cranny of her clothing and works its way into every orifice of her body. When she finally makes it home, her house is covered in dust. As soon as she gets through the door, Billie Jo goes looking for her piano to make sure it is okay. She finds it covered in dust and gets angry with her mother for allowing the dust inside.
Billie Jo’s nightmares are a surreal reflection of her waking reality. The presence of dust is amplified and has destroyed the piano, Billie Jo’s prized possession. Not knowing who to blame, Billie Jo lashes out at her mother, as if she is somehow at fault for the situation. The dream suggests that Billie Jo feels like her mother can no longer protect her from the outside world, which horrifies her.
Themes
As the dream continues, Billie Jo tries to play the piano, but it makes a terrible shrieking noise. Scared, she punches it, and it shatters into small pieces. Then, Billie Jo’s father asks her to bring her mother something to drink. Billie Jo brings her mother a bucket of fire. Her mother drinks it and then gives birth to a baby made of fire. Billie Jo runs to a neighbor’s farm and finds their piano, which sounds normal when she plays it. Then, she drags the piano home and tries to play it there. However, this time, she finds she cannot play because her hands are swollen and dripping pus. Billie Jo wakes up, relieved that the dream wasn’t real—except the part about her hands.
Billie Jo’s father’s request to bring Billie Jo’s mother something to drink, partnered with Billie Jo’s bucket of fire, is a surreal representation of the culpability they share for the accident. The baby made of fire is an ominous sign of what is to come. Meanwhile, Billie Jo’s hands are actually injured, meaning she will not be able to do her favorite thing: play the piano.
Themes
