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Chapter 23
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
People are starting to wonder about Vester Frazier’s absence. The talk doesn’t worry Cussy Mary, because everyone knows that the Blues aren’t allowed in church and didn’t associate with the pastor. But knowing that Vester is buried in the yard frets at her mind, and she takes to piling stuff on top of his grave until one night Pa disinters him and moves the body elsewhere. Slowly the talk shifts to the conditions in the mine, the vengeance of the Company against the union, and the missing miners, one of whom is Pa. When he didn’t come home one night, Cussy and Junia checked his route for signs of animal attack. Finding nothing, Cussy sent a letter to another miner by way of Queenie, asking for news.
Cussy’s fear and guilt manifest in her obsessive attention to Vester Frazier’s grave. But the talk of the town doesn’t focus on the pastor for long, since there are many other hardships and difficulties to contend with. When Pa goes missing, Cussy immediately fears violence, since the mine company frequently uses violence to enforce its will on its employees. In this moment of fear and uncertainty, Cussy Mary can rely on the help of others—her coworker Queenie, the other miners, showing that she is perhaps not as isolated as she sometimes fears.
Themes
When a large delivery comes into the center, Cussy eagerly rides to town, hoping that Queenie has news for her. At work, Cussy’s nervous distraction makes her clumsy, drawing Eula’s anger. Cussy listens to Eula and Harriett share meanspirited gossip about the townsfolk. She’s shocked when Harriett explains the Lysol douche she’s been using to treat her itchy lady bits. She saw an advertisement for the product in a magazine and had a cousin mail her the Lysol. Its box was busted open at the post office; embarrassingly, everyone saw what she’d ordered. But it was worth it to clear up her woes before her cousin, Cory Lincoln, arrives for the Pie Bake Dance. Everyone knows Harriett is sweet on Cory.
Modernity and change come in many forms, one of which is an increasing female control over bodily autonomy and reproduction. Early in the book, Cussy uses an herbal remedy to induce an abortion after she discovers that she’s pregnant with Charlie Frazier’s baby. The Lysol douche that she and Harriett have seen advertised is also meant for use as a discrete abortifacient. While it’s not clear if that’s exactly how Harriett used it—she references symptoms that could arise from various infections—this moment suggests that Harriett’s belief in her own moral superiority is suspect. Her incestuous attraction to her cousin confirms her poor moral sense.
Themes
Cussy Mary hears Junia fussing outside, and she looks up to see Jackson Lovett approaching the post office with a bouquet of blue flowers. Before Cussy can intervene, Junia snatches the flowers from him. When he catches sight of Cussy in the window, he calls out that Junia likes flowers like a proper lady, and Cussy wonders who he was planning to give them to. Harriett, attracted by the commotion, snaps at Cussy, the “stinkin’ inbred,” to keep the window closed, stop daydreaming, and get back to work. Tears well up in Cussy’s eyes. She knows that Harriett’s family has had some close-kin marriages; many people have, since it’s hard to meet or marry outside of the hills. In contrast, Cussy’s grandfather came all the way from France.
It seems obvious that the blue flowers are meant for Cussy Mary—Junia seems to be trying to accept them in her place—yet Cussy can’t accept this thought. She’s so used to being devalued and demeaned that she can’t imagine that someone would want to pay good attention to her. Harriett, on the other hand, seems to understand immediately that Jackson is interested in Cussy, and responds with abuse. Since she sees Cussy as a lesser human because of her skin color, she is angry at signs that other people value her. Moreover, Harriet exposes the arbitrary nature of her when she complains that Cussy is inbred—Cussy isn’t, while Harriett is. But Harriett is white and therefore protected from judgment in a way Cussy isn’t.
Themes
The youngest librarian, 18-year-old Birdie, enters the Center. Harriett mocks her because she’s tall, calling her “Bird’s Nest.” She’s followed by Constance Poole, who has stopped by to gossip with Eula and Harriett. Finally, Queenie arrives. She ignores Harriett’s order to start on the most thankless task, because she’s only there to resign. She shows Eula the letter confirming her appointment to the Philadelphia library. When Harriett finds out that she’s going to be making $4.85 more a month—almost $4 more than Harriett and Eula—Harriett gripes that it’s “a crime to pay a darkie more.”
Although Cussy Mary and Queenie bear most of Harriett’s abuse, at heart she’s just a mean gossip and spares no one her cutting comments, including the white librarian, Birdie. Still, she reserves most of her anger for people who, unlike herself, don’t have white skin. While it’s clear that she doesn’t like Queenie and won’t miss her, she resents that the Black woman found an opportunity to better herself, and she’s particularly angry at the idea that a non-white person would be paid a wage better than Harriett herself for any reason, including having a better job than hers.
Themes
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Cussy Mary knows that without Queenie, she will be the only colored librarian and her life will be harder. But she’s also proud of her friend. A few minutes later, Queenie quietly hands Cussy a note from her Pa. Cussy shelves the last books in her pile, stuffs a newspaper into her satchel, then rushes out the door, ignoring Eula’s cries of “Widow Frazier” and Harriett’s furious cries of “Bluet!”
The people in town treat Cussy Mary with the same disdain and discrimination they reserve for other non-white people, and she fears that if she’s the only target of Harriett and Eula’s disdain, her life will get worse. Yet, Cussy also demonstrates her ability to ignore their abuse when she rushes out of the center with the letter from Pa despite their angry cries. Notably, both call her by hated labels rather than her name, showing their disdain for her as a person.
Themes
