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Summary
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
While riding along her route, a Pack Horse Library worker (Cussy Mary) discovers a corpse hanging in a tree. On the ground beneath it lies a squalling infant. As Cussy watches a bloodied sock fall slowly off the corpse’s foot, she notes its blue skin, so like her own.
The beginning of the book dramatically introduces the theme of hardship and humanity which will run through the work. It isn’t clear yet whether the person is a victim of violence or self-harm, or why there is a baby on the ground. But the novel immediately claims that life is hard in this world, especially for people who, like blue-skinned protagonist Cussy Mary Carter, are different in any way.
Themes
