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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Kind, Kindness, and Discrimination
The Power of Books
Hardship and Humanity
Change and Modernization
Autonomy and Interdependence
Summary
Analysis
Cussy Mary awakens from her drugged slumber in the back seat of Doc’s car. She feels queasy and sore. One of her arms is swathed in bandages. Fearfully, she asks Doc what he did to her, and Doc turns towards her. He promises that the abrasions won’t scar and that she will be as fine as a person with chocolate-colored blood can be. He says, “I’m sorry the nurses were rough with you, Bluet,” but the research is important and may allow him to fix her. Cussy doesn’t want to be fixed; she wants to be accepted as she is.
Cussy Mary’s experience at the hospital is degrading and terrifying, in large part because she doesn’t know what happened to her there. Doc treated her as an interesting body, not as an individual in charge of herself. Doc addresses her by her demeaning nickname, “Bluet,” reinforcing the idea that others—including him—really can’t see past the color of her skin. His eager justification of his research, which will benefit him more than Cussy (who doesn’t feel like she needs to be fixed), undercuts his apology for the rough treatment
Themes
Cussy Mary realizes she has cramps, and Doc reports that they took samples of her blood, skin, and cervix. He offers her a snack of pear and cheese, but she’s in too much pain to eat. Doc hands her the food and some laudanum drops to ease her pain, and Cussy is surprised at how they make her feel instantly better. Then he gives her a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a jar of honey, instructing her to clean and treat her cuts daily until they heal. Cussy smiles; every Kentucky woman knows about honey’s healing properties, but it’s hard to get ahold of. She tucks the medicines into her bonnet and falls back asleep.
For all the terror in the possibility that Vester would rape Cussy, in the end, it’s Doc who violates her body by taking samples intimate samples from her. Discrimination and the violence it allows come in many forms, some overt, and others justified by scientific research. But Cussy finds a way to turn her suffering into something good when she realizes that she can take Doc’s gifts of food and medicine and share them.
Themes
