Out of the Dust Themes

When hard times come, it's easy to point fingers at people, curl up in a ball of greed, and think of life as an every man for himself kind of deal. The Dust Bowl and Ma's accident both represent ha...

Home is a complicated word for Billie Jo in Out of the Dust, and even before Ma dies, she feels out of place on her family's farm, wanting something more than life in the Panhandle can give her. He...

Let's face it—we've all looked in the mirror or glanced at our surroundings and wished things were different, sometimes even way different. It can be so easy to focus on the negative things about...

Imagine having a loved one die in an accident that a close friend or family member was involved with. Along with the grief that comes with losing someone important to you, you'd probably be tempted...

From Ma's accident, to starving cattle, to dust storms capable of disrupting lives and livelihoods, Billie Jo and the people around her definitely do more than their share of suffering. If Out of t...

Death is the source of much of the characters' suffering in Out of the Dust, whether it's the loss of a crop or the loss of a parent or spouse. In the midst of the Dust Bowl's hard circumstances, m...

Out of the Dust is a pretty bleak story. People's jobs are being destroyed, the land gets torn to pieces and blown away, and at least five people die. With Billie Jo and her father in the center of...

We've all been there. You have a bad day at work or school, feel frustrated by life, or just want people to stop getting all up in your grill. So you do the only sensible thing: you go to your bedr...

Obviously poverty is a major issue in Out of the Dust, as not only a consequence of the dust storms, but also thanks to the Great Depression. One thing Hesse does a pretty awesome job of is showing...

By this time, you've probably figured out that Out of the Dust is full of darkness, depression, death, and despair. We've got some good news, though—it's not all that bad. Remember, it's called O...