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Chapter 56
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 asks John Kelly for help getting to Saint Louis via the railroad. He will go alone, convinced that he only brings misery to his family. Retrieving his harmonica and Maybeth’s letter from the shed, Odie says a silent farewell to his sleeping friends. He thinks of Emmy as a little sister and hopes that Mose can regain some of his old joy. Odie loves his brother, who has been the only constant in his life, and leaving Albert is the hardest thing he has ever done. A man in the railyard tells Odie to ride the trains south. John Kelly promises not to tell the others where Odie has gone. Climbing into a boxcar, Odie feels he is finally going home.
By leaving in secrecy, Odie denies his friends the opportunity to talk him out of his plan or to say goodbye. While he thinks this is the easier option, he is really avoiding the difficult conversations that come with being part of a community. Nevertheless, Odie hopes that each of his friends finds what they are searching for, just as he hopes to find a true home with Aunt Julia. In this way, the novel examines the difficult decisions that one must make on a journey of personal growth. And this in turn suggests that it is possible to move forward with both hope for the future and sadness for what has been lost.
Themes
