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Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mighty Miss Malone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Hope
Talent and Hard Work
Family
The Black Experience in America
The Great Depression
Summary
Analysis
Mr. Malone is still very weak. The doctors didn't want to discharge him, and he all but broke out of the hospital to get home. During the days, Deza stays at home and nurses him while Mrs. Malone goes to work and Jimmie goes to fulfil his obligations to Dr. Bracy. Mostly, Mr. Malone sleeps. But sometimes, when he wakes up, he and Deza talk. One day, she begins to tease him by talking in a lisp, and although he calls her a “thankleth, bratty little child,” he also laughs for the first time since the boating accident. Deza decides to tell him a fairytale to make him feel better, about how Spaniards developed a lisp in imitation of a beloved king with a speech impediment.
Whatever happened on the lake (and it takes Mr. Malone a while to share the story), it took a severe toll on Mr. Malone’s mental and physical health. This further imperils the family, too, although Deza is too relieved by his return to see it at first. His recuperation means he isn’t even out there trying to find a job at the moment, and the family is barely hanging on as it is. Deza doesn’t notice, however, because as long as her family is together, she feels safe and secure. She even reverses roles with her father, becoming the caregiver and storyteller while he’s too weak to fulfil his usual roles.
Themes
Eventually, the stitches come out of Mr. Malone’s tongue and mouth. The doctor says his lisping should improve as he continues to heal. That night, Mrs. Malone decides it’s time to return to the family tradition of dinnertime “Chiefs’ and Children’s Chow Chat.” As she asks the children about their days, Deza reports that Mr. Malone is getting stronger—he can now walk to the bathroom without help. Jimmie describes finding coal along the railroad tracks and his astonishment at how fast some of the trains move. Mrs. Malone says that the hard economic times are even starting to affect wealthy families like the Carsdales.
When Mr. Malone’s stitches come out, things seem to be looking up—at least from Deza’s optimistic viewpoint. Her optimism is, in many ways, crucial to her ability to survive what life throws at her. But it also makes it hard for her to see looming difficulties and dangers, in much the same way that Jimmie seems incapable of properly appraising the danger of walking along the train tracks. Mrs. Malone gently tries to warn her children that things are about to get more difficult—even the Carsdales are feeling the pinch of the poor economy—but neither of them is ready to listen.
Themes
Suddenly, Mrs. Malone stops speaking. Mr. Malone stands in the doorway, holding a plate. Jimmie tells Mr. Malone that it’s his turn to talk about his day. First, Mr. Malone cracks a joke about how busy he was with long sleeping chores. But then he says he wants to talk about the accident. Mrs. Malone tries to stop him, but he starts anyway. Neither Jimmie nor Deza wants to hear it, and Mrs. Malone doesn’t think they should, either. As she escorts her husband back up to bed, Jimmie turns to Deza and says that their father must have something akin to emotional lockjaw: he got through the initial experience, but there’s clearly something left over from it trapped inside him.
Mrs. Malone tries to stop Mr. Malone from talking about the accident. Deza intuitively seems to understand why: the details don’t matter much—whatever happened specifically, it wasn’t good. Mr. Malone lost three of his friends in the lake and barely survived. There is no version of the story that won’t be utterly horrifying. Mrs. Malone knows that she can’t entirely protect her children from hardship and suffering—they’re eating worm-ridden food because they’re so poor. But she does try to protect them from truths they’re not yet ready to handle. In a life full of difficulty, knowing too much could make it hard to keep going.
Themes
