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34. Nightmare
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Out of the Dust, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Billie Jo’s mother is in poor condition. Nothing can touch her because, if it does, it will bring her immense pain. She barely has any skin left, even on her face, and Billie Jo does not recognize her. Billie Jo’s father squeezes a cloth to drip water in her mouth. Otherwise, she gets no sustenance. Occasionally, Billie Jo’s mother will cry out sharply when the baby kicks. The rest of the time, she moans in pain.
Billie Jo’s mother’s condition suggests she will not last much longer. The pain Billie Jo’s mother feels whenever the baby kicks undercuts any sense of hope about the future the kicks might otherwise provide. At the moment, everything looks dire, as Billie Jo’s mother barely hangs on.
Themes
