Out of the Dust
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
1. Beginning: August 1920
2. Rabbit Battles
3. Losing Livie
4. Me and Mad Dog
5. Permission to Play
6. On Stage
7. Birthday for F.D.R.
8. Not Too Much To Ask
9. Mr. Hardly’s Money Handling
10. Fifty Miles South of Home
11. Rules of Dining
12. Breaking Drought
13. Dazzled
14. Debts
15. Foul as Maggoty Stew
16. State Tests
17. Fields of Flashing Light
18. Tested by Dust
19. Banks
20. Beat Wheat
21. Give Up On Wheat
22. What I Don’t Know
23. Apple Blossoms
24. World War
25. Apples
26. Dust and Rain
27. Harvest
28. On The Road With Arley
29. Hope in a Drizzle
30. Dionne Quintuplets
31. Wild Boy of the Road
32. The Accident
33. Burns
34. Nightmare
35. A Tent of Pain
36. Drinking
37. Devoured
38. Blame
39. Birthday
40. Roots
41. The Empty Spaces
42. The Hole
43. Kilauea
44. Boxes
45. Night Bloomer
46. The Path of Our Sorrow
47. Hired Work
48. Almost Rain
49. Those Hands
50. Real Snow
51. Dance Revue
52. Mad Dog’s Tale
53. Art Exhibit
54. State Tests Again
55. Christmas Dinner Without the Cranberry Sauce
56. Driving The Cows
57. First Rain
58. Haydon P. Nye
59. Scrubbing Up Dust
60. Outlined By Dust
61. The President’s Ball
62. Lunch
63. Guests
64. Family School
65. Birth
66. Time To Go
67. Something Sweet From Moonshine
68. Dreams
69. The Competition
70. The Piano Player
71. No Good
72. Snow
73. Night School
74. Dust Pneumonia
75. Dust Storm
76. Broken Promise
77. Motherless
78. Following in His Steps
79. Heartsick
80. Skin
81. Regrets
82. Fire on the Rails
83. The Mail Train
84. Migrants
85. Blankets of Black
86. The Visit
87. Freak Show
88. Help From Uncle Sam
89. Let Down
90. Hope
91. The Rain’s Gift
92. Hope Smothered
93. Sunday Afternoon at the Amarillo Hotel
94. Baby
95. Old Bones
96. The Dream
97. Midnight Truth
98. Out of the Dust
99. Gone West
100. Something Lost, Something Gained
101. Homeward Bound
102. Met
103. Cut It Deep
104. The Other Woman
105. Not Everywhere
106. My Life, or What I Told Louise After the Tenth Time She Came to Dinner
107. November Dust
108. Thanksgiving List
109. Music
110. Teamwork
111. Finding a Way
Themes
All Themes
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Quotes
Characters
All Characters
Billie Jo
Billie Jo’s Father
Billie Jo’s Mother
Louise
Mad Dog Craddock
Arley Wanderdale
Terms
All Terms
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Dust Bowl
Symbols
All Symbols
Apples
Rain
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Out of the Dust
by
Karen Hesse
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Introduction
Intro
Plot Summary
Plot
Summary & Analysis
1. Beginning: August 1920
2. Rabbit Battles
3. Losing Livie
4. Me and Mad Dog
5. Permission to Play
6. On Stage
7. Birthday for F.D.R.
8. Not Too Much To Ask
9. Mr. Hardly’s Money Handling
10. Fifty Miles South of Home
11. Rules of Dining
12. Breaking Drought
13. Dazzled
14. Debts
15. Foul as Maggoty Stew
16. State Tests
17. Fields of Flashing Light
18. Tested by Dust
19. Banks
20. Beat Wheat
21. Give Up On Wheat
22. What I Don’t Know
23. Apple Blossoms
24. World War
25. Apples
26. Dust and Rain
27. Harvest
28. On The Road With Arley
29. Hope in a Drizzle
30. Dionne Quintuplets
31. Wild Boy of the Road
32. The Accident
33. Burns
34. Nightmare
35. A Tent of Pain
36. Drinking
37. Devoured
38. Blame
39. Birthday
40. Roots
41. The Empty Spaces
42. The Hole
43. Kilauea
44. Boxes
45. Night Bloomer
46. The Path of Our Sorrow
47. Hired Work
48. Almost Rain
49. Those Hands
50. Real Snow
51. Dance Revue
52. Mad Dog’s Tale
53. Art Exhibit
54. State Tests Again
55. Christmas Dinner Without the Cranberry Sauce
56. Driving The Cows
57. First Rain
58. Haydon P. Nye
59. Scrubbing Up Dust
60. Outlined By Dust
61. The President’s Ball
62. Lunch
63. Guests
64. Family School
65. Birth
66. Time To Go
67. Something Sweet From Moonshine
68. Dreams
69. The Competition
70. The Piano Player
71. No Good
72. Snow
73. Night School
74. Dust Pneumonia
75. Dust Storm
76. Broken Promise
77. Motherless
78. Following in His Steps
79. Heartsick
80. Skin
81. Regrets
82. Fire on the Rails
83. The Mail Train
84. Migrants
85. Blankets of Black
86. The Visit
87. Freak Show
88. Help From Uncle Sam
89. Let Down
90. Hope
91. The Rain’s Gift
92. Hope Smothered
93. Sunday Afternoon at the Amarillo Hotel
94. Baby
95. Old Bones
96. The Dream
97. Midnight Truth
98. Out of the Dust
99. Gone West
100. Something Lost, Something Gained
101. Homeward Bound
102. Met
103. Cut It Deep
104. The Other Woman
105. Not Everywhere
106. My Life, or What I Told Louise After the Tenth Time She Came to Dinner
107. November Dust
108. Thanksgiving List
109. Music
110. Teamwork
111. Finding a Way
Themes
All Themes
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Quotes
Characters
All Characters
Billie Jo
Billie Jo’s Father
Billie Jo’s Mother
Louise
Mad Dog Craddock
Arley Wanderdale
Terms
All Terms
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Dust Bowl
Symbols
All Symbols
Apples
Rain
Theme Wheel
Theme Viz
Download this Chart (PDF)
Download the Teacher Edition
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Back to Guide
Previous
47. Hired Work
Out of the Dust: 48. Almost Rain
Summary & Analysis
Next
49. Those Hands
Themes
and Colors
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
On a Saturday in November 1934, dark clouds appear in the sky. However, it does not
rain
.
Here, nature almost seems to be taunting Billie Jo and the other residents of the Panhandle.
Active
Themes
Previous
47. Hired Work
Previous
47. Hired Work
Next
49. Those Hands
Next
49. Those Hands
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