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Chapter 24
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 is relieved that Pa is alive and horrified to realize the position she put Queenie in. The Company harasses or harms anyone they catch passing union notes. Cussy waits until she and Junia are completely alone on the trail before opening the letter. Pa is in “family talks”—code for union negotiations—near the Tennessee border. He says he’ll be home in two nights.
The fact that it was potentially physically dangerous for Queenie to pass word between Cussy Mary and Pa only highlights the generosity and courage of her actions, showing how people can take care of each other with human goodness.
Themes
When Junia halts, Cussy puts down the letter and sees the rattlesnake directly in their path. She tries to force Junia to go around but the mule refuses, and in their argument, Cussy is thrown to the ground. She and the letter land within inches of the rattlesnake’s bite. Suddenly, she hears a loud explosion. Convinced that Company men are after her, she hides her head in her arms. But it’s just Angeline, out hunting. The women quickly realize that Junia refused to go off the trail because she saw the rattlesnake’s nest there. Angeline shoots it, then gathers the dead animals for her dinner. Angeline looks wild and free, standing barefoot on the roots of the old trees, and Cussy feels a momentary desire to be wild again, like Angeline, like Cussy herself was as a child.
Yet again, Junia acts as an extension of Cussy Mary, protecting her from dangers that Cussy doesn’t (or can’t) see. The rattlesnake offers a reminder that it isn’t just the hatred of others or the greed of the mine company that makes life dangerous in these parts: everyone has to contend with brutal natural conditions, as well. Life is hard, and it’s only made harder when people refuse to help each other out. Angeline, out shooting rattlesnakes to feed herself, doesn’t have the time to waste on discrimination or hatefulness. Her life is thus simpler and more innocent than the life of others like Eula and Harriett, or even Cussy Mary herself, and Cussy briefly envies her freedom.
Themes
Angeline reports that Mr. Moffit is healing, thanks to the medicines. She takes Cussy’s hand and kisses it. Cussy recoils, warning Angeline that she shouldn’t be seen touching her, for fear of angering Mr. Moffit or exciting gossip and trouble among other people. Angeline doesn’t care much for Mr. Moffit’s pride, or for the talk of people who don’t care for her and her family like Cussy does. As the women part ways, Cussy’s stomach growls at the thought of the rabbit and rattlesnake stew Angeline will be making for dinner, knowing all too well that she won’t have anything more substantial than wild nettle soup herself.
The exchange between Angeline and Cussy Mary yet again shows that Cussy Mary is more worried about contaminating others than others are worried about being contaminated by her. She has internalized the discrimination and hatred she receives from Eula, Harriett, and others. She feels that she is less than a full human even when people are treating her as a valuable and loved person.
Themes
