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
President Roosevelt advises the country to plant trees to help end the drought. Billie Jo thinks his heart is in the right place, but he does not know what he is talking about. Trees will not grow in the Panhandle. Billie Jo wonders if people should even be in the Panhandle. She knows her father will stay no matter what but wonders if she should leave.
This chapter is an important moment for Billie Jo, as it is the first time she considers leaving the Panhandle—to get “out of the dust,” as she calls it. Even President Roosevelt, who Billie Jo deeply admires, does not seem to have an answer for the Panhandle’s problems.