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Chapter 42
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
Two weeks later, Pa lights a new courting candle. This one is completely naked, fixed to an old saucer, since he’s not going to disturb the dead to find the old, time-keeping candle holder. As in the winter before, Cussy begs him not to force her to marry. But he’s determined to get a man to care for Cussy and a pa for Honey. He tells her that this time, the light will hold fire—that it will bring Cussy the marriage he wants so much for her.
The nakedness of the new courting candle suggests how shameful Cussy Mary finds it when Pa suggests that she can’t take care of herself without the help of a man. Plus, his earlier attempts to find a husband backfired because of people’s prejudice against her skin color. Unlike ever before, Pa seems assured that this next suitor will be Cussy’s last, hinting that he knows more than he’s telling her.
Themes
Their argument is punctuated by Pa’s racking coughs. He’s also more determined than ever to get Cussy married, since the mine is about to shut down. He rejects Cussy’s suggestion of a WPA job, since he feels that it’s undignified to “beg for scraps” and to have to take a “Pauper’s Oath.” Cussy knows that anyone working for the WPA must swear that they’re impoverished and keep their homes open to random inspection to prove it. The only reason no one has inspected their home already is that they’re so far from town and difficult to reach.
The fact that the mine is closing permanently suggests that the company has finally gotten all of the value it can leach from the Kentucky mountains. It took the coal and the money, and it is leaving behind all the men who, like Pa, have become ill working for them. The life of the Kentucky coal miner is one of hardship and sorrow. Still, Pa has his self-respect and pride in the knowledge that he can take care of himself and his family without government assistance.
Themes
Cussy’s final argument is that she doesn’t want to leave Pa. She wants to stay and take care of him. But, as he points out, he’s the one who will soon be leaving. A coal miner’s life “is a short one,” and he’s too sick to be cured, even if Cussy takes him to Philadelphia. He wants to make sure that Cussy has a husband and that she and Honey have the life he could never give Cussy and her mother.
Cussy has experienced many traumatic losses in a short period of time: Winnie, Henry, and Angeline. Pa’s reminder that a coal miner’s life is short suggests that Cussy will lose him soon, too. As his dying act, he wants to make sure that Cussy and Honey are protected from the prejudice, discrimination, and hatred they face as Blues.
Themes
Pa refuses to answer Cussy’s repeated question of who would be willing to marry a Blue until the suitor’s horse can be heard in the distance. Then, he points towards the sound and says, simply, “That one,” before setting out for the mine. When he’s out of earshot, Cussy hurls the candle into the yard where it smashes against a rock and breaks, then sits back to wait. She’s sure the suitor will turn around as soon as he catches a glimpse of her anyway.
Pa refuses to give a hint of the suitor’s identity, building tension for both Cussy Mary and for readers. However, his confidence in leaving Cussy Mary and Honey alone with this man after what happened with her last suitor (Charlie Frazier) suggests that he has a great deal of trust in him. In a moment parallel to her earlier adjustment of the candle for a shorter time, Cussy Mary protests and asserts her autonomy over her own life by smashing the candle.
Themes
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