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Chapter 31
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
Jimmie tells Deza that the dental work necessary to fix her rotting teeth will hurt a little, but that it’s worth it. Food will taste better, her breath will smell better, and her constant pain and headaches will stop. It might also save her life—cavities can get so serious that they poison the blood and make people die. After taking some x-rays, Dr. Mitwallyy gets to work.
The trip to the dentist reminds readers how long Deza has been suffering from her bad teeth without any hope of having them fixed. Suffering and pain are so much a part of her normal life that she hardly notices them any longer. It doesn’t have to be this way, thanks to Jimmie’s income.
Themes
When Dr. Mitwally is done, Jimmie ushers a slightly goofy and woozy Deza into a taxicab, takes her back to his room, and tucks her into bed. He nurses her through the night, then puts her back on a bus to Flint in the morning. She’s still a little drugged from the pain pills Dr. Mitwally prescribed, so she mostly sleeps through the trip. Mrs. Malone meets her at the station.
Once, Jimmie and Deza were both clearly children. But time, age, and circumstance have muddled those lines. Jimmie takes on an almost parental role here, just as Deza did previously when she set out to find him in Detroit. Although their roles and configurations may change, the bonds of love that hold them together will always endure.
Themes
Over the next few weeks, Deza starts to think that the Malone family might finally be done with its run of bad luck. Although her report card is terrible—all Cs, although she does A-level work—she’s feeling much better since Dr. Mitwally fixed her teeth. Mr. Malone’s letters continue to arrive every two weeks, postmarked from all over the country. And then, one day, a package addressed to Mrs. Malone arrives instead of a letter. Back in their rented room, Mrs. Malone tears it open. It contains $35 and a set of keys. The letter explains that the keys are for a rental house at 541 Jackson St. in Gary, Indiana, which will be waiting for the Malones in June, after the end of the school year.
Near the end of their time in Gary, it seemed like the Malones couldn’t catch a break or get one piece of good news. Now, their luck seems to be soaring once again. Deza is hopeful about the opportunity to go back home to Flint, although after everything the family has been through, readers ought to be a little more cautious. The Malones might be going home—they might even be getting back on the road to that place called Wonderful—but things won’t be going back to the way they were. They can’t—that’s not how life works.
Themes
