Previous
Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity
Family, Friendship, and Support
Bullying and Injustice vs. Kindness and Compassion
Race and Class
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Kenny wakes up after a long, sweaty night in the Alabama heat. He goes outside to find his father and Byron standing in the yard with Mr. Robert and his dog. Mr. Robert tells them stories about hunting raccoons with his dog, claiming that the dog was one of the best raccoon hunters around. Byron is impressed by Mr. Robert’s hunting stories, showing a sense of enthusiasm he never shows at home.
It's obvious that a change has overtaken Byron since arriving in Birmingham. At the beginning of the novel, he was sullen and withdrawn, but now he doesn’t mind showing enthusiasm and interest in the stories Mr. Robert tells him. Again, it’s not explicitly clear why he has changed, but it seems likely that the mere experience of traveling to Birmingham is what’s responsible for this sudden shift in his attitude, since the trip has shown him that his actions have consequences, thus encouraging him to change his behavior.
Themes
Kenny goes inside and finds his mother, Grandma Sands, and Joey in the kitchen. Wilona asks her mother questions about old neighbors and acquaintances. They also talk about the difficulties many Black community members have been having with certain white people, but then the conversation shifts to Mr. Robert. Wilona tries to figure out what kind of relationship Mr. Robert and Grandma Sands have, wondering if her own father knew Mr. Robert. But Grandma Sands implies that Wilona should mind her own business—it has been a long time since Wilona’s father died, and Grandma Sands is entitled to do what she wants. Her tone surprises Kenny, who realizes that his grandmother is subtly scolding his mother as if she’s just a little girl.
What Kenny realizes in this scene is that even adults sometimes have trouble acting mature. Wilona is unsettled by the idea of her mother dating somebody new, so she acts as if she’s still a child who can’t accept big changes. Witnessing his mother act like this, Kenny sees that his father was right when he said that sometimes adults don’t necessarily know what they’re doing. Everyone is just feeling their way through life, meaning that sometimes they’ll find it difficult to handle things maturely—even when they’re full-grown adults.
Themes
