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Chapter 39
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
At home, Cussy Mary feeds Honey a thin gruel made of boiled bread while she argues with Pa. He’s worried about the implications of Cussy keeping the baby as an unwed mother. She thinks the timing is close enough that she can pass Honey off as her own baby from her brief marriage to Charlie Frazier. No one else but Jackson will know the truth. Angeline never made it into town for the exam Doc offered her, and it’s unlikely that anyone else knew that she was pregnant or would suspect the baby was hers.
Throughout the book, Pa’s primary concern has been for Cussy Mary’s safety, and being a single mother will just expose her to more judgement and discrimination, even if Cussy can convince people that Honey is hers and Charlie’s legitimately conceived baby, not the result of some extramarital romance.
Themes
Most importantly, Cussy argues, Honey is a Blue, which means she must somehow be their kin. Pa recalls a rumor that his uncle had a bastard in Hell-fer-Sartin, who was given away by its mother before she left for Ohio. The story matches what Angeline said about Mr. Moffit’s past. Cussy tells Pa about Henry’s death from pellagra. She doesn’t want Honey, their last kin, to face a similarly terrible fate. Just then, Honey opens her eyes and smiles at Pa. He reaches out a finger, which she happily sucks on. Cussy can see him softening, and soon he’s telling her to ride into town to buy some real milk for her baby.
Cussy reminds him of the obligation they have to Honey, not just as Blues, but as good human beings. She had the benefit of a family to cushion her a little bit against the cruel judgments of the world; without Cussy and Pa, Honey won’t even have that small cushion of love and safety. Henry’s death shows that the world can be harsh and cruel to anyone, not just people who are different.
Themes
