Out of the Dust Art and Culture Quotes

Billie Jo's love for playing music is one of the defining traits of her character, and this first mention of her talent in the book demonstrates how much of a part of her it is. See the words fondness and hunger? They're sort of reversed—you would expect someone to have a fondness for music and a hunger for apples. The point here is that for her, music is a life-sustaining force; just as people can't live without food, she can't live without playing piano.

Billie Jo's description of playing at the Palace Theater illustrates the energy and enthusiasm that comes from performing, from the word choice to the short, broken lines that spread across the page. The opening chapter tells us of the importance of piano in Billie Jo's life, but it's not until this scene of her concert that we actually get a sense of just how important it is. It's also obvious that she's pretty good too.

And that, Shmoopsters, is where it all began: Ma passing her musical legacy down to her daughter. For Billie Jo, music is deeply rooted not just in her love for playing, but the connection it has to her mother. This probably explains why she has a love/hate relationship with playing after Ma is gone.