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A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in When Will There Be Good News?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past
Appearances vs. Reality
Lies and Deceptions
Family
Summary
Analysis
Reggie nearly fainted when she first recognized Dr. Hunter back at the house. She’s overwhelmed by relief and horror. Dr. Hunter is barefoot and still wearing her work suit, walking “like a heroine, a warrior queen.” Sadie capers around, puppy-like with happiness, and the baby laughs at the sight. Reggie hugs the baby.
The story jumps back to Dr. Hunter’s emergence from the farmhouse. The scene is a shocking study in contrasts—Dr. Hunter’s bloodstained suit, the baby’s and dog’s carefree joy. Nothing about the situation fits into Reggie’s categories for her beloved Dr. Hunter.
Themes
Jackson checks out the inside of the house and emerges looking sick. He siphons petrol out of the Toyota that was sitting outside the house (John and Peter’s) and sets the house aflame, at Dr. Hunter’s insistence. She doesn’t want this in the baby’s life. Then they all walk down the road to the parked Prius. Jackson drops them all off within walking distance of the Hunters’ house, Reggie giving him a goodbye kiss on the cheek.
Dr. Hunter has spent her life being haunted by the fallout from a terrible tragedy; she will do anything, even covering up a crime scene, to ensure that her baby doesn’t suffer the same fate. Again, there are “no rules” except “love.”
Themes
When they reach the house, Joanna, Reggie, and the baby cut through the hedge and sneak up the back stairs, avoiding the police. Reggie gives the baby a bath while Joanna showers. Joanna asks Reggie to deal with the bloodstained clothes, which Reggie is getting pretty good at by now. When they all emerge downstairs, clean and dressed, the police are stupefied. Joanna asks Reggie to put the kettle on. While they all have tea, Joanna keeps saying that she doesn’t remember what’s happened. Reggie heads off with her backpack full of bloodstained clothes.
Joanna’s unstained appearance among the police is itself a deception. Taking advantage of Reggie’s steadfast trust, she makes Reggie complicit in it. Reggie takes advantage of her inconspicuous, readily overlooked appearance to sneak off and obscure the evidence. The whole scene makes clear that Joanna is practiced at deceit.
Themes
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