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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in This Tender Land, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family, Community, and Home
Hardship, Injustice, and Compassion
God, Fate, and Choice
Coming of Age and Personal Growth
Storytelling, Music, and Hope
Acceptance and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
The next morning, Jack is in a pleasant mood. The still is ready, but it needs firewood, so Mose and Odie accompany Jack to chop down a dead cottonwood near the river. Despite the prospect of hard work, Odie is cheered by Jack’s happy demeanor. Jack sends him to search for morel mushrooms for their dinner while he and Mose fell the tree. Out of sight, Odie sneaks to the oak tree Jack was crying under and discovers a family graveyard. Among older headstones are three unmarked graves. The discovery worsens Odie’s dread over the shredded mattress he found in the attic. Jack is overjoyed when Odie returns with mushrooms, and the three of them start chopping the remains of the tree.
That Jack’s good mood is contagious reminds the reader that Odie is still a child, and as such is heavily influenced by the adults he has to interact with, mirroring their moods. This safe and trustworthy side of Jack contrasts with the violent temper he has shown in past interactions, emphasizing the human capacity to contain both good and bad impulses. The discovery of unmarked graves worsens Odie’s suspicions that Jack killed his family, and sharply contrasts with the pleasant man with whom he is currently working.
Themes
Jack asks the boys’ names. Odie calls himself Buck. Hearing that Mose (who calls himself Geronimo) is Sioux, Jack shares a story Mose’s people tell about the cottonwood giving birth to stars, which are made inside the earth. He claims people are similar: they are “[d]reams shook loose.” Seeing Odie is unimpressed, Jack goes on, extolling the value of hard work because it connects people to God, who is “[t]his beautiful, tender land.” Odie disagrees, citing the tornado that killed Mrs. Frost. Jack calls this tragic, but he tells Odie not to blame the land, which has always been dangerous to humans, though not intentionally. Odie thinks Jack is as unpredictable as the land he loves so much and wonders if he has always been this way.
Jack’s knowledge and appreciation of Sioux folklore depicts him as inquisitive and thoughtful, adding another layer of depth to his character. His reverence for humanity and God provokes Odie’s budding cynicism. Unexpectedly, Jack is the first to challenge Odie’s claim that God only causes pointless suffering, insisting that the land (which he views as God) is both tender and unpredictable, but it cannot be blamed for imperfections. Here, the novel examines another conception of God as a beautiful but flawed being in need of acceptance instead of judgment, just as complex and contradictory as Jack. Odie’s reflections indicate that Jack’s speech has made an impression on his maturing worldview.
Themes
Jack sends Odie to dump some wood at the house. Odie checks on Albert and Emmy, who are running the still. The children discuss Jack’s kindness but also his changeable behavior and wonder why he doesn’t use their money to buy more food. Odie decides he likes the man enough to call him Jack instead of “the pig scarer.” Before returning to work, Odie sneaks into the house to search for their pillowcase. In the attic, Odie finds a photograph of two men in military garb signed “Death before dishonor. Rudy.” Once again, the mattress and its suggestion of violence fill Odie with dread. There’s no money in the pillowcase, but he takes the gun and hides it in the tack room.
Like Odie, the others have noted Jack’s unpredictability, which makes him both kinder than expected and more volatile. Odie’s feelings about Jack continue to contradict one another, supporting the notion that people are neither good nor bad, but rather something in between. Nevertheless, the photograph of Rudy and the shredded mattress push Odie toward the belief that Jack is violent, which explains why Odie takes the gun. Despite the trust and camaraderie he has experienced with Jack, then, Odie’s own history of suffering and betrayal convince him to err on the side of caution.
Themes
