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Chapter 48
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
Two days later, the group reaches Saint Paul and the Mississippi River. Mose continues to wrestle with the history of his people, who were killed by soldiers from Saint Paul. After making camp on the riverbank, Odie follows Mose to a clearing, where he seems to be chanting under the full moon. Canoeing into Saint Paul, they see beautiful mansions on the bluffs. Albert tells Emmy that being rich enough for such a house costs a person their soul. They disembark opposite downtown Saint Paul, and Albert leaves the others to seek out Forrest’s friend Gertie Hellmann, who lives in the West Side Flats.
Mose’s experience demonstrates that healing from suffering is neither quick nor linear, as he must now learn to live with the knowledge of his people’s collective trauma. Albert’s remark to Emmy puts into words what the children have learned repeatedly on their journey: personal wealth and power in America is usually attained by doing harm to others in some way. The contact Forrest shared in Saint Paul shows how community can care for one another even at a distance.
Themes
The others wait near a set of rails, watching train cars go by. They encounter three boys, one of whom says his name is John Kelly. He asks if they are Indians, and Odie replies that they are vagabonds. They know Gertie, as does everyone in the flats. Albert returns, and they canoe downriver to a place where many other boats are docked. Mentioning Gertie’s name to the proprietor, Wooster Morgan, secures them a week’s free boat storage. Walking through the flats, Odie notes how happy and free everyone seems despite the run-down houses. They enter a building called “Gertie’s” and encounter a person who appears to be male with severe scarring on his face. When the person speaks, Odie realizes this is actually a woman: Gertie.
John Kelly’s question about the group’s race is a subtle nod to the diversity of the West Side Flats. By calling himself and the others “vagabonds,” Odie represents them as a community without a home. Gertie’s name clearly holds power in the Flats, suggesting that she is an influential community member in some way. That Odie mistakes Gertie for a man on their first meeting seems to suggest either a personal choice to forgo femininity or a rough life.
Themes
