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Chapter 1
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
Odie, Albert, and Volz leave the administration building. Albert scolds his brother, saying Mrs. Brickman is serious about sending him to the reformatory. Odie ignores his warning. The group make their way across the campus, which sits along the Gilead River. There are fewer students on campus now, as those with families return home for the summer. They pass DiMarco, a groundskeeper who whipped Odie the night before. Albert and Volz clean Odie’s wounds before heading to the dining hall. Volz informs Odie he is to work in Bledsoe’s hayfields today—a dreaded assignment. Though Mrs. Brickman intentionally made Odie miss breakfast, Volz has convinced the cook, Mrs. Peterson, to save him some cereal.
The O’Banions’ brotherly argument characterizes Albert as more practical and responsible than the stubbornly rebellious Odie. Here, the novel provides a brief glimpse into life at Lincoln, highlighting how most students who are enrolled there are taken from their families, who live on reservations. DiMarco’s introduction as an abuser hints at the school’s undercurrent of violence, while Bledsoe’s work assignment demonstrates how the students are exploited for free labor. Well-meaning adults like Volz and Mrs. Peterson thwart Mrs. Brickman’s manipulative tactics to make Odie miss breakfast, showing that at least some authority figures are willing to stand up against the administration’s injustices.
Themes
While Odie eats, Albert scolds him again for his alleged prank. Odie claims he is not responsible for the snake that scared Mrs. Brickman and accuses Albert of being her servant. Odie will not admit he dreads working in Bledsoe’s hayfields with his open wounds. Albert is 16, redheaded, and exceedingly smart. He is also honorable, unlike Odie and their father, who was a con man. Just then, six-year-old Emmy Frost approaches with her mother, Cora Frost, who teaches homemaking and reading. Mrs. Frost has convinced Mr. Brickman to switch Odie’s assignment to help with her garden and orchard. Albert and Moses will join them. Knowing that Mrs. Brickman would not approve of this change, Odie thinks Mrs. Frost is an angel.
Albert’s actions solidify his role as the responsible brother, but they also show how he dismisses Odie as a troublemaker. Odie seems to agree with Albert’s assessment of him, as seen in comparing himself to their father, a con man. The anticipated physical pain of working in Bledsoe’s fields illustrates the injustice and hardship faced by children at the school. Here, Cora Frost is another adult in Odie’s community who steps in to mitigate such hardship, using her power as a teacher to subvert Mrs. Brickman’s cruel orders and lessen Odie’s suffering.
Themes
Mrs. Frost drives her Model T truck through Lincoln and out into the farmland. The boys at Lincoln Indian Training School are often sent to work for local farmers as part of their “training.” Working for Bledsoe is particularly hard work, reserved for older boys and troublemakers. Albert, as Mrs. Brickman’s favorite, is rarely assigned there. Mrs. Frost interrupts Bledsoe’s labor to pick up Moses Washington. Bledsoe initially argues, saying he has not heard from Mr. Brickman. Bitterly, he relents. Only then does Mrs. Frost show him Mr. Brickman’s note, remarking that Bledsoe should have accepted her word since she’s a lady. She drives off. Moses uses sign language to express that he, Albert, and Odie are lucky.
Again, these work assignments show how Lincoln and the Brickmans abuse their students by exploiting them as free labor. This method of “training” teaches them that they are not worthy of payment. Mrs. Brickman’s favoritism further demonstrates her unjust leadership. Mrs. Frost’s conversation with the irritable Bledsoe differentiates her from other adults who do not care about the children’s welfare. It also shows that she is not easily intimidated despite being a single woman in a time period when men held more power in general.
Themes
