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 Aunt Ellis travels to Billie Jo’s house to collect Billie Jo’s new brother. She plans to take him and raise him as her own. However, the baby dies before Aunt Ellis arrives. Billy Jo and her father bury her mother and the baby together. Reverend Bingham, a man who barely knew Billy Jo’s mother, leads the service. During the service, Reverend Bingham asks Billie Jo’s father for the child’s name. When her father does not say anything, Billie Jo responds, “Franklin”—like the president. After the funeral, Billie Jo hears people talking about what happened and she feels like they are making the incident sound like it is her fault. However, no one says anything about her father.
Billie Jo has to be strong during these proceedings because her father has become mute, and she wants to ensure that her mother and baby brother get an honorable funeral. She steps up and makes important decisions, such as Franklin’s name, without any input from her father. Up to this point, Billie Jo and her father have always gotten along well, even if they were never as close as Billie Jo desired. However, the death of Billie Jo’s mother is already driving a wedge between, as Billie Jo seems to blame him for what happened.
Themes
