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Chapter 2
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’s brief marriage left her with broken bones, a mule she names Junia, and a pregnancy. She pulls Charlie’s root from her womb with an herbal tea. And then she gets her job with the Pack Horse Library back.
The disruption of Cussy Mary’s marriage to Charlie Frazier is brief. She uses traditional remedies to end the resulting pregnancy without a fuss, showing how the old ways can continue to be useful even as the world changes.
Themes
On her first day back, Cussy Mary rides Junia up into the mountains. Before her marriage, she’d rented a horse. But she rescued poor, abused Junia—Charlie’s only valuable possession. Pa worried that Junia would be ornery, and thought she was only fit for a “miner’s sacrifice.” This is an animal fitted with a lantern and sent into an emptied mine to check for gas buildup. If the animal doesn’t set off an explosion, the miners know it’s safe. Cussy nursed Junia back to health, but the mule still distrust and attacks men.
Junia is a mule, a donkey-horse hybrid. Mules are sterile and have a reputation for having bad tempers. It’s not clear why Charlie abused her, but he did, just like he abused Cussy Mary. The affinity between the book woman and her beast suggests the peril of being different, difficult, and stubborn—traits Cussy Mary and Junia share. When Pa claims that difficult mules are only valuable as miner’s sacrifices, he raises an unspoken question about the value of difficult (and different) women like Cussy. But the tie between the two also suggests that a person’s (or a mule’s) value lies beyond their superficial appearance, in the strength of their character or their importance in their community.
Themes
As Cussy Mary and Junia come beside the trail that leads to Charlie’s home, Junia startles. Cussy can’t hear anything suspicious, although she’s lost hearing in one ear thanks to Charlie’s beating. They crest the hill and Cussy hears a train whistle in the distance. She thinks about the people on it travelling through the beautiful Kentucky countryside. Once, she dreamt about a train carrying a company of Blues far beyond the borders of the state.
On the trail, Cussy Mary’s horrific experience with Charlie Frazier is juxtaposed with the sound of the train whistle in the distance, which suggests that it’s possible to escape the hardships she faces. Cussy Mary dreams about leaving her rural home—about the possibilities that exist beyond the claustrophobic mountain hollows and the bigotry and isolation she faces.
Themes
Junia’s snorting pulls Cussy Mary from her reverie. They have reached the Moffit place. Seeing a patron waiting for her frees Cussy from the winter’s traumas. Returning to the books is a sanctuary and joy for her heart.
Charlie Frazier treated Cussy Mary as if valued her as less than a human being. In contrast, her patrons value her and wait anxiously for her return. Because they are shared property, books have the power to create friendships and bring people closer together.
Themes
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