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Chapter 31
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
The summer day sizzles with heat as Cussy Mary rides into Troublesome for the Fourth of July celebration. She made a Bible cake (the recipe for which relies on memorized Bible verses) for the community potluck, and to placate Pa. He bought expensive sorghum for it at the Company Store for her.
Despite hints that white society isn’t prepared to accept her, Cussy Mary still rides into Troublesome Creek to participate (for the first time) in the Fourth of July celebrations. She brings a cake as a symbolic gesture of her generosity and her willingness to leave the past behind her.
Themes
In town, people are spreading a feast on tables outside. Everyone is dressed up, and children are playing tag and kick the can in the streets. Other children play with homemade toys like apple dolls or whimmydiddles. There’s a raffle, and the prize is a quilt made by the sewing bee club.
The town is alive with activity and joy on this festive day. But the fact that Queenie could never attend and that Cussy Mary couldn’t before today offers a sharp reminder that this society doesn’t actually include all of its residents equally.
Themes
Cussy Mary has only been to the celebration once before, and her family had to leave suddenly when a fight broke out between her uncle and a drunk man. Pa didn’t want her to go this year. He worries that the people who hated Cussy when she was a Blue are small-minded and won’t stop hating her just because she’s changed colors. But Cussy thinks that her respectability, her position as a librarian, and her newly white skin will allow her to fit in. When she runs into children from her route, they do indeed greet her warmly.
Pa’s experiences have taught him that discrimination isn’t weak enough for something as simple as Cussy changing her skin color to destroy it. Cussy is correct in her understanding of her importance to the community. But she misjudges the community. In her desire for acceptance, she ignores those who already accept and like her because of her library work.
Themes
Cussy Mary sees Jackson dismounting from his horse on the other side of the street. Harriett rushes over to him, but after a moment, he tips his hat and dismisses her. He doesn’t notice Cussy as she walks towards the sewing bee club’s sewing circle, where Constance Poole and six others put finishing touches on the celebration quilt.
Harriett showed interest in Jackson earlier in the summer, and although she’s sweet on her cousin, she’s also still clearly interested in Troublesome’s most eligible bachelor. He shows no interest in her, but he also doesn’t seem to notice Cussy. Undeterred, Cussy approaches the quilters to make a bid to join Troublesome’s society.
Themes
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In the spirit of the day, Cussy Mary decorated her old, brown dress with some lace and seed pearls she found in her mother’s trunk. She tied her rag-curled hair back with one of the satin ribbons Doc gave her. She stands for a few minutes, listening to the women chatter about eligible bachelors. It’s clear that Constance is sweet on Jackson, and Cussy knows they would make a handsome couple.
Like most of the people in the area—especially those living outside of town—Cussy doesn’t have many nice things. But she shows her independence and cleverness in dressing up her old dress and dressing her hair festively. Despite her efforts and her brave face, her automatic pairing of Jackson with Constance instead of herself suggests that she still sees herself as less valuable than the other women in town.
Themes
Cussy Mary’s head starts aching and she contemplates retreating. But, reminding herself that she’s now white, she wishes the sewing circle ladies a Happy Fourth and offers them a slice of her Scripture Cake. She offers to help with the quilt. The ladies take her pallor as a sign of illness, and they pull away from her until Constance dismisses her after a few embarrassed seconds. As she walks away, she hears one comment on the gall of “a heathen making a Bible cake,” while others call her a disgrace and a spectacle. Cussy scurries back to Junia, realizing that the drug hasn’t redeemed her. The people in this bright, happy place will never accept her, making her feel like she is only fit for the darkness of the woods. She ignores Jackson’s friendly greeting and races toward home.
Like Harriett and Eula, the ladies think that Cussy is ill, not “cured” of her blueness. And they show that though Cussy can change her appearance, she cannot change the opinions of other. Eula, Harriett, Constance, and others will always be able to find reasons to exclude people they think are different or inferior. Pa, Jackson, Queenie, and R.C. tried to show Cussy that she was valuable no matter what color her skin was, but it’s only now that she realizes her desire to be white is a sort of vanity. If people can’t accept her for who she is even when she changes to suit their desires, she won’t ever be able to change their minds.
Themes
