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Chapter 5: Work
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Simple Gift, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Riches and Poverty
Redemption
Love and Family
Rules and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
Comfort. Before he came to Bendarat, Billy never talked to girls. He didn’t have—or want—friends in his old life. His old life involved Westfield Creek, reading book, and avoiding his dad and their unkempt, dirty house. In his new life, Billy keeps his home, the train car, neat and clean. He still reads prolifically, giving himself the education his high school never could. And he thinks about Caitlin, a lot. He doesn’t know what she sees in him, but he hopes it’s the way he sees who she really is.
Billy reflects on the difference between his current life and his past. Home—now represented by his tidy, cozy train car—is coming to represent safety. Caitlin’s visits and Old Bill’s proximity imbue it with the flavor of loving relationships, too. Perhaps most importantly, Billy has seized control of his destiny—his education, his relationships, his life—by leaving his old home.
Themes
Old Bill and the ghosts. Over time, a friendship develops between Billy and Old Bill. Old Bill gives Billy tips on living cheap and jumping trains and encourages him to travel. Old Bill won’t leave Bendarat, and Billy eventually learns the reason: he needs to stay near his house so that when his drinking makes him start to forget Jessie and his wife, he can visit it and remember. When Old Billy tells Billy that he doesn’t know what he would live for without his ghosts, Billy thinks that he must be the saddest man in the world.
Old Bill’s home life was much better than Billy’s. But for him, too, his former home has come to symbolize trauma and suffering rather than intimacy and safety. His tortured relationship with his memories—which he refuses to relinquish despite the pain they cause him—mirrors this broken dynamic. Without his family to live in it, the house lacks a purpose and becomes as driftless as Old Bill’s current life. It too needs redemption, somehow—and until that happens, the house (and Old Bill) will remain overwhelmingly, tragically sad.
Themes
Lucky. Billy walks Caitlin home after her shifts at McDonald’s. Caitlin tells Billy all about her days at school, the drudgery of exams, the things she does with Kate and Petra. No longer does she need to confess her secrets in a diary, now that she can talk to Billy about them. When she’s with Billy all her identities—rich girl, schoolgirl, McDonald’s employee—dissolve and are replaced with a feeling of being tremendously lucky.
As Caitlin and Billy grow closer, they each begin to experience what a truly mutual, intimate relationship can add to life. Caitlin no longer needs to keep her secrets to herself; because Billy gives her the love and acceptance she needs, she trusts her secrets with him. Yet again, her sense of luckiness points to the value of relationships over wealth.
Themes
Dinner. Family dinners at Caitlin’s house are always the same: her mother cooks a perfect meal and pairs it with one of her father’s favorite wines. They talk about work and their dreams for Caitlin’s future—her father wants her to study law or medicine, while her mother would like her daughter to become a teacher or businesswoman. To shut them up, Caitlin tells them she wants to become a housewife or a nun. When the conversation runs out, she eats in silence, thinking about Billy instead of schoolwork or careers.
As Caitlin reflects on dinners at home, readers can see the sharp distinction between her empty, cold relationship with her parents and the warmth and intimacy she shares with Billy. Material wealth pales in comparison to the richness of true emotional intimacy. And intimacy arises from acceptance: while Caitlin feels like Billy accepts her for who she is, her parents mostly focus on their dreams for her future.
Themes
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The weekend off. Caitlin has the upcoming weekend off from work and her parents will be out of town. It takes her a while to convince them that she can be trusted, and she promises that she won’t burn the house down, drink all the wine, or host a raging party. But she does plan to have Billy over and to enjoy herself in the empty, ugly, expensive house.
Caitlin’s plan to have Billy over for the weekend introduces the possibility of filling an emotionally empty house with the intimacy of a truly mutual, loving relationship. In this way, Caitlin attempts to redeem or rehabilitate her house, filling it the sense of trust, safety, and love it lacks.
Themes
Hobos like us. Every morning, Billy wakes up Old Bill and they share a breakfast of cereal and McDonald’s coffee that Billy keeps warm in a thermos overnight. Old Bill tells Billy that he was too busy to sit down and eat breakfast with his family when he worked. Now that they’re gone, he notes bitterly, he has all the time in the world. But Billy just feels relieved when Old Bill eats. And sometimes, Old Bill goes with Billy to the Bendarat River to bathe and wash. And when Old Bill dives in, fully clothed, his laughter turns from bitter to sweet. And Billy thinks that there may even be hope for “hobos” like him and Old Bill.
When Billy first met Old Bill, the idea that he could end up as an old, worn out “hobo” like Old Bill scared him. But, after getting to know Old Bill and developing a friendship with him, Billy is no longer afraid of becoming a “hobo.” After all, nature supplies a river for washing and relaxing in; the wastefulness of those with resources allows Billy to find enough food to eat; and the time to focus on relationships with others instead of school, work, or amassing things makes life satisfying.
Themes
The kid. Old Bill likes Billy, and he can recognize the good changes the kid makes in his life. He’s saved some of the cannery money instead of drinking it all away; he wakes up earlier and eats a decent breakfast; he occasionally washes in the river. Old Bill thinks that Billy deserves a better life than living in a train car and taking care of an old drunk like himself.
The care and attention Billy lavishes on Old Bill starts to have an effect on Old Bill. Billy’s affection reminds Old Bill that his life still matters, even though he lost his original family. Because Billy values Old Bill, Old Bill becomes more able to value himself, and he begins to act as if he has a future.
Themes
