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Chapter 64
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
Viewing the novel’s events in retrospect, Odie describes God as a river of spirit that flows through time and the universe. He recalls trying to reshape God during the summer of 1932, but he has since accepted its incomprehensible nature. He delves into the lives of the Vagabonds at the end of their odyssey. Mr. Brickman dies in prison, but not before asking Sister Eve and the others for their forgiveness. After many years, Odie is able to forgive and release his belief in the Tornado God. Odie and Emmy remain in Saint Louis with Julia and Sister Eve. Odie’s mother is confined to a wheelchair, but she designs clothes and opens a dress shop, which survives the Depression.
Odie’s understanding of God as a river of spirit flowing through the world and humanity emphasizes qualities of imperfection and forgiveness over absolute power. Mr. Brickman’s deathbed request for forgiveness aligns with this worldview, and Odie’s ability to grant that forgiveness and give up his belief in the Tornado God suggests significant personal growth. Odie’s decision to stay with Aunt Julia, Emmy, and Sister Eve in Saint Louis shows that he has finally accepted his altered life priorities and found a family that suits him.
Themes
Albert studies engineering at the University of Minnesota. He and Mose still work with Truman and Calvin sometimes and invite Odie and Emmy along for trips down the Mississippi. Albert and Odie serve in in the military during World War II, and Albert dies a hero in an aircraft carrier. Mose plays baseball for the Saint Louis Cardinals for a few years before an injury forces him to retire. He returns to Lincoln School (which is under new management) and coaches sports until the school closes in 1958. Afterward, Mose advocates for Native American rights in Washington D.C., building a family of his own and finding peace. Odie believes a story brings with it the hope of remembrance.
Though Albert and Mose choose a different path than Odie and Emmy, they are still a community, showing that families can still support one another even when physically distant. Albert’s choices show that he remains practical and moral, but he takes the time to invest in his own interests even as he protects his community. Mose spends his life working to correct injustice and deepening his connection to his birth community. Odie remembers his friends in this way so that they can live on through his stories.
Themes
Odie tells his great-grandchildren stories about the four Vagabonds. His favorite is the story of the imp and the princess named Maybeth Schofield, whom Odie eventually married in real life. Maybeth herself is a fairytale to these children, as she died before they were born. Odie lives in a house beneath sycamore trees with Emmy—his sister—in the place they promised to return to along the Gilead. With Sister Eve’s guidance, Emmy has gained a deep understanding of her gift and has changed many lives, though hers is now coming to an end. Odie asserts that every story contains a seed of truth, even those that seem impossible. He believes it is best to remain open to possibility, like children, trusting in the heart’s imagination.
By sharing the Vagabonds’ story with his great-grandchildren, Odie uses his own gift to affirm their sense of community, lineage, and belonging. His and Emmy’s return to the place where they first felt at home along the Gilead emphasizes that the natural world is connected to humanity, embodying the spirit of the divine. Emmy, likewise, has used her gift to better the lives of those around her, again highlighting the way individual action can change the world for the better. By returning to the idea of stories as combinations of fiction and truth, Odie asserts that, while his tale might be embellished, keeping one’s heart open to possibility can allow the best parts of one’s imagination to manifest as reality.
Themes
