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Chapter 42
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Transcendent Kingdom, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Religion
Self-Discovery, Identity, and Individuality
Addiction, Depression, and Control
Trauma, Caretaking, and Intimacy
Summary
Analysis
In an entry from her childhood journal, Gifty tells God that Nana made her dinner while their mother was at work. When she told him that a classmate had mocked her cheap clothes, Nana told her that there was a place in hell for the girl, and this made Gifty feel better.
Gifty’s childhood journal entries contextualize the magnificent wholeness of Nana that people missed when they focused solely on his addiction. First, she remembers him as her caretaker, making her dinner and making her feel better when another child mocked her. But this also emphasizes the difficult circumstances that Gifty said, in the previous chapter, might have led to his addiction: he’s making dinner because their single-parent mother is at work, trying to make enough money to support her children. And the other child’s mockery suggests the racist and classist abuse that Nana, Gifty, and their mother experienced in Alabama.
Themes
In another entry, Gifty wishes God a Merry Christmas and describes her small part in the nativity play. She only had one line, but Nana gave her a standing ovation.
In the second entry, Gifty describes Nana’s unstinting support of her, even when her part in the play wasn’t very impressive. This suggests the kind of support that she wishes others could have given him, appreciating his goodness even when it was partly obscured by his addiction.
Themes
