Previous
Chapter 6
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
Monday morning, Mose and Odie are assigned to work for Bledsoe again. Volz recruits Albert to paint the water tower, on which a runaway painted “Welcome to Hell” years ago. Odie thinks of Billy Red Sleeve and wonders if the punishment for running away would be better than working for Bledsoe. A storm is coming. Mrs. Bledsoe forces her husband to let the boys go home early. Back at Lincoln, they watch from the dormitories as hail gives way to a tornado. The twister uproots trees and destroys the ball field. Odie is relieved to see Albert and Volz have abandoned the water tower, but he is overcome with fear when the tornado veers toward Emmy and Mrs. Frost’s farm.
Working on Bledsoe’s farm makes Odie contemplate running away, showing how miserable conditions truly are at Lincoln. The tornado’s appearance is both sudden and terrifying—a true natural disaster. Its arbitrary destruction astonishes Odie, even as his life is spared. Watching the twister veer toward the Frost farm foreshadows some tragedy affecting people Odie hopes to one day call family.
Themes
Odie, Mose, Albert, and Volz try to find Mrs. Frost and Emmy on campus. Mrs. Brickman is out of town, so Mr. Brickman accompanies them to the Frosts’ farm in Volz’s car. They follow the tornado’s path of destruction to Mrs. Frost’s destroyed house. Her car is upside down, and her orchard has been uprooted. Odie mourns the loss of his future home. They find Emmy safe but alone in the cellar. She explains that her mother went to set the horse free from the barn. Odie stays at the Frost’s property to search for Mrs. Frost. He accuses Brickman of lying when he claimed that God was a shepherd: in fact, God is a “goddamn tornado.” Albert surveys the destruction, reiterating his belief that a shepherd eats his flock “One by one.”
Mr. Brickman’s concern for Mrs. Frost adds some nuance to his character, making him more sympathetic than his wife. The utter destruction of the Frost farm decimates Odie’s brief hope for a better life with Emmy and Mrs. Frost. The cruel swiftness of his loss leaves Odie angry, and he blames Mr. Brickman’s false presentation of God as a kindly shepherd for his grief. By calling God a “goddamn tornado,” Odie reconceptualizes the deity as an unstoppable force indifferent to the suffering it causes. Albert cites the tornado as proof that God, like everyone else in power, only causes harm to those in need of help.
Themes
