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Chapter 33
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’s story is about a woman who lives in a dense forest who can see things others can’t. One day, four Vagabonds visit her: a giant, a wizard, a fairy princess, and an imp. They tell the woman about their perils in the outside world and ask to stay with her. The forest woman knows they are searching for their hearts’ desires, which they can only discover by going on an odyssey—a great adventure. She sends the Vagabonds to destroy the Black Witch, who feasts upon the hearts of children in her care, fattening them with hope before devouring them.
Odie’s story is a fantastical version of the experience he and his friends have shared. The woman in the forest, with her supernatural sight, is Eve. The giant is Mose, the wizard is Albert, the fairy princess is Emmy, and the imp represents Odie. To dull the pain of losing the crusaders, Odie imagines that Sister Eve has sent them on an odyssey to defeat the Black Witch—a stand-in for Mrs. Brickman, their pursuer. In this way, Odie uses stories to encourage his friends on their journey and reignite their hope in success.
Themes
The forest woman gives the imp a vial of magical mist, telling him to open it when they are experiencing their darkest moment. The Vagabonds set out for the Witch’s castle. Knowing they are coming, the Witch sends an army of snakes to attack the group. The Vagabonds are losing the battle when the imp opens the vial of mist, which clouds the snakes’ sight, enabling the friends can get away. Confused, the snakes kill one another. Odie ends his story here, but he promises Emmy that the odyssey is not over. When his friends are asleep, Odie watches the lights from a nearby town, no longer envious of the people who live there. He knows where his heart is now.
Odie imagines that Sister Eve, as the forest woman, has given his group some tool they can use to defend themselves against the Witch’s power. The “vial of magical mist” can be interpreted as the hope and trust Sister Eve imbued in each of them before their departure, which Odie hopes will guard against Mrs. Brickman’s relentless cruelty and his friends’ weariness. That Odie no longer envies townsfolk who live normal lives shows that he has come to consider his friends as his true home—they are where his heart resides.
Themes
