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Chapter 21
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 skips Mr. Prine because she doesn’t have a new Time magazine for him. Instead, she rides straight to Martha Hannah’s house. Cussy’s mind wanders from the medical tests to Jackson to new songs on the radio, and she’s surprised when Junia stops up short in alarm. Fortunately, it’s not another Frazier. It’s Martha Hannah’s husband, the moonshiner Devil John. He looks to be in a troublesome mood, and he tells Cussy that there’s a problem with her books. They’re keeping his children and wife from doing their chores.
As always, Junia is on the lookout for Cussy Mary, alerting her to potential dangers and keeping her from harm. Devil John doesn’t want to harm Cussy Mary, even though he looks a little scary. He's suspicious of the books, since they are preventing his family from doing the very necessary work required to survived in the mountains.
Themes
Cussy Mary apologizes but secretly she’s thrilled. Devil John refuses to send his children to school—most mountain folk don’t know it’s the law and wouldn’t care if they did know—and her books are their only shot at learning. Devil John doesn’t want any more wasteful, “highfalutin books that fritters away time.” In response, Cussy pulls out a Boys’ Life magazine that was donated by the Boy Scouts. It shows how to tie knots, fish, and make rabbit traps as well as teaching them some prayers and sermons.
Devil John’s refusal to send his children to school is yet another example of resistance to modernization. The fiercely independent mountainfolk don’t want to be told what to do by a faraway government and are more worried about their day-to-day survival than anything else. Nevertheless, Cussy Mary demonstrates the power of books to expand people’s horizons when she successfully talks Devil John into accepting loans that are useful for him and his family.
Themes
The mention of sermons only riles up Devil John, who doesn’t want a “charlatan’s fire-waving finger up [his] ass.” He wasn’t a fan of Vester Frazier. Cussy Mary remembers the day she encountered Vester in the woods. She thinks that she saw a shadow or heard a noise, and she wonders if Devil John sent Junia back to save her. Devil John keeps talking, saying that Martha Hannah reads the Bible every day to the children. As he becomes intrigued with the Boys’ Life, Cussy brings out her scrapbook, and teases some of its contents to Devil John, which include good chores and tips from the local water witch on choosing a divining rod. Finally convinced, Devil John decides to allow only canning and recipe books after planting and harvest. All the other books will need to wait until the winter.
Devil John’s rejection of Vester Frazier is a reminder that not everyone in town has the same beliefs and alliances. While many people are on Vester’s side (the side of racism, prejudice, hatred, and violence), there are exceptions. And it seems like Devil John may not just tolerate Cussy Mary but like her and be concerned about her well-being; she thinks that it’s possible that he helped rescue her the day that Vester attacked her in the woods.
Themes
