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Chapter 35
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
On Thursday, Cussy Mary finds a letter from Queenie waiting at the outpost. Despite the distance between them, the letter took only 16 days to arrive. Queenie misses the stars and the quiet of the mountains. Philadelphia is always full of bustle and business, and there are many beggars. Both she and one of her sons have been robbed. But the library is glorious, and her boss appreciates her, and is encouraging her to apply to the Hampton Institute Library School.
The letter from Queenie offers a glimpse of a world that has more opportunities for Black people (and, by implication, for blue-skinned Cussy Mary), although Philadelphia is no utopia. Life is hard there, but the balance of hardship and humanity are better. And Queenie, having escaped the grinding poverty and small-mindedness of rural Kentucky, has the opportunity to improve herself through the power of books and education, which the library and the Library School represent.
Themes
