Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Across Five Aprils, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
The Realities of War
Self-Determination
Personal Conviction
Hardship, Suffering, and Beauty
Summary
Analysis
By the spring of 1862, the war has begun to affect the prices of goods like coffee. Ellen suffers terrible headaches without it, but she’s also appalled at the rising prices and ashamed of her dependency. She decides to quit cold turkey but ends up in bed, too ill to work while Matt and Jenny tend to her. Finally, Matt sends Jethro to borrow some coffee from Nancy.
Jethro finds Nancy outside doing chores. Her two young sons wait for her in a darkened house; she’s too afraid to leave them alone with a lit lamp. She hands Jethro her whole bag of coffee. Then she asks if he and Jenny would come play with their nephews sometime to try to fill the gap their father’s absence creates. She wishes the war would end and things would go back to the way they used to be, with Bill and John close friends and all the brothers (and Shad) back at home. Nancy has never said so many words at once to Jethro. He’s surprised and doesn’t know what to say, so he just nods at her in a way he hopes conveys sympathy.
By the time the war approaches its first full year, it has become clear that civilians, even those far from the front lines, aren’t spared the hardships and difficulty it creates, whether this is the absence of beloved husbands and fathers or the shortages of (sometimes necessary) luxuries like coffee. Nancy’s confessions also draw Jethro one step closer to adulthood, since she talks to him like an equal despite the fact that he’s probably closer in age to her children than to her.
Themes
A cup of fresh black coffee quickly revives Ellen. After consulting with her, Matt calls Jethro and asks the boy if he feels capable of taking the wagon into town for coffee and other supplies the next day. This is a man’s job, and Jethro swells with pride at being asked. He assures his father that he’s up for the task. Matt sends the boy to bed early, since he’ll have to be up at 4:00 a.m. to accomplish the trip.
Earlier in the day, Nancy seemed to invite Jethro to further participation in adult conversations and adult affairs. Now he takes on more adult responsibilities on the farm. But the necessity of Jethro’s trip—only he and Jenny remain at home with their parents, and Matt must attend to the planting—also offers a reminder of how much the war affects home life, too.
Themes
In the morning, Matt and Jethro load the wagon with sacks of corn. Ellen shares her cup of coffee—diluted with hot milk—with her son, and Jenny makes him a special breakfast. Jethro feels proud and exhilarated as he guides the teams over the 15-mile journey into Newton. They pass many people hard at work with morning chores, but one man, Jake Roscoe, hails the wagon. He doesn’t know Jethro, but he does know Matthew Creighton, and he knows that Jethro has a bunch of “growed-up” brothers in the war. Jethro brags about Eb, Tom, and John, but Jake presses him with some degree of ill-will about Bill, the brother who rebelled and joined the Confederates.
As in the first chapter, where a cup of coffee at the adult table signifies Jethro’s admittance to a greater level of responsibility and respect in the family, his mother shares the drink with him before he leaves to go into town by himself. And, lest readers think that Jethro’s family sends him solely because they have no other options, his easy conversation with Jake Roscoe shows that Jethro can handle himself among adults—even antagonistic ones—at just 10 years old.
Themes
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Jake believes his grandson, who serves in the Union Army under General Sigel, might have been at the recent battle of Pea Ridge. Jethro and Jenny recently read about it in the newspaper, and he relates some of the details to Jake. Jake asks Jethro to bring him a paper from town. He thinks that if his grandson died in action, he'd hear about it fastest by looking for his name in the papers. Jethro promises to bring one.
Jake’s plight reminds readers of the costs of war. These are physical, but they are also psychological—weeks or months could pass before a family learns of a loved one’s death. And Roscoe’s illiteracy highlights the education and intelligence that sets Jethro apart from most of his neighbors. His knowledge and understanding of the war put him on equal (or superior) footing to men far older than himself.
Themes
Soon after Roscoe fades into the distance, Jethro and the wagon team enter a shady forested stretch that makes the horses nervous. The muddy path here presents challenges that Jethro meets with calm maturity. Soon after the woody stretch, the road passes the rundown, untidy Burdow place, which—unlike the woods—scares Jethro. By eleven o’clock, however, Jethro pulls into Newton. In March, without the soft skies and green-leafed trees of summer, it’s an unattractive town. But the novelty of its bustle, stores, and delightful restaurant—where once he ate with Bill and Shadrach—still charm Jethro.
Although Jethro handles himself in a mature way with Jake Roscoe, his fear of and hatred toward the Burdows reminds readers that he’s still a child. It also shows that he has yet to learn his father’s lesson of mercy; even after several years, he stubbornly refuses to forgive Travis for Mary’s death or to consider that the family may be better than their criminal reputation.
Themes
Jethro works diligently through the list of chores his family assigned him. The last involves stopping at Sam Gardiner’s general store. Six men sit around the store’s fireplace. These include Ross Milton, the arthritic general editor of the county newspaper, and—to Jethro’s horror—Travis Burdow’s giant, filthy father Dave. When he approaches the group to ask Milton for a paper, one of the men asks his name; when he identifies himself as Matt Creighton’s son, Jethro, Dave Burdow winces slightly. A red-faced young man (later identified as Guy Wortman) leans into Jethro’s face and demands to know if the rumors that Bill has joined the Confederates and is “down south shootin’ our boys” are true. Jethro replies, truthfully if vaguely, that the family hasn’t heard from Bill since he left.
It turns out that Jake Roscoe’s questions about Bill foreshadowed the ire that county residents now direct at him and the Creightons generally. On the one hand, Guy Wortman appears to be on the “right” side as a Union supporter. But his actions show that just being on one side of an issue doesn’t make a person moral (or immoral, the book argues, since it valorizes Bill for following his conscience and supporting the South). At first, Jethro attempts to assuage the situation without inflaming tensions or having to make a clear statement about his own feelings.
Themes
Guy Wortman turns to Dave Burdow, suggesting that he might be able to pay Matt Creighton back for keeping Travis from the lynch mob by talking locals out of murdering Bill, should he ever return. Burdow silently gathers his purchases and leaves. Ross Milton struggles to his feet and pointedly suggests that a few more shots of whiskey might give Wortman enough courage to pick on someone who could fight back—Burdow has no friends in the county, and Jethro is a child. Still, other men join in expressing the general low opinion about Bill joining the Confederates.
Guy’s appeal to Dave suggests that the Creightons have fallen even lower in county opinions than the Burdows, whom people generally dislike. But this doesn’t make him friends with Dave, whom he also clearly disrespects. In other words, Guy utilizes Travis and Dave as tools to needle Jethro rather than treating them as human beings. He leans on a received idea—all Confederates are bad—to define the world in simple terms and then to elevate himself by putting others down, even though he’s not standing up for what he supposedly believes in in a meaningful way.
Themes
Milton replies that folks should keep their argument with Bill and not shun his family for his choices. But Wortman turns on Jethro again, demanding to know whether Matt teaches him to hate his “skunk” brother. Jethro tries to remain calm and replies that he thinks more of Bill than anyone else in the world. Wortman turns vicious, stepping forward to attack Jethro and hurling insults at the men that hold him back. Milton tightly contends that, despite his big talk, Wortman’s cowardice keeps him from joining the Union Army himself. Wortman glares at the crowd and declares his intent to leave. Another man joins him, remarking that, although he has no use for “thievin’ Burdows,” at least Travis fights on the right side of the war.
Ross Milton, like Shadrach Yale, distinguishes between respecting Bill for following his convictions—as his American right to self-determination grants—and disagreeing with Bill’s conclusions. Guy Wortman makes no such distinction, although his moral character leaves much to be desired, as he demonstrates by avoiding service and picking fights with children. However, Jethro has heard Milton’s and Shad’s words, and he finds the courage in himself to stand up for Bill, thus taking another step on his path to maturity.
Themes
Milton turns to a cowed Jethro and apologizes for the mean talk. He himself disagrees with Bill’s decision, but he respects Jethro for standing up for Bill. Milton helps Jethro carry his purchases out to the wagon and then has one of his employees feed and water the horses while he takes Jethro out to lunch at the restaurant. To Jethro, who expected to eat the simple cold lunch he carried with him to town, this is an unimaginable treat. Milton wants to know if Jethro can read. Jethro proudly—and defensively—replies that he can. Moreover, he’s read some political philosophy, like that of Thomas Paine. He also reads the newspapers. Milton reflects on the importance of good teachers like Shadrach Yale—he himself hated most of his—and offers to add his own book of English grammar to Jethro’s growing library.
Milton reiterates the lesson about self-determination that readers have heard from Shad and Jethro; the novel valorizes Bill for following his conscience, even if Bill’s conscience leads him to the Confederate cause, which defended slavery. And the more that Jethro acts and talks like a mature person, the more the adults in his life treat him like one; Milton finds himself so impressed with Jethro’s defense of Bill that he takes the boy under his wing. With his intelligence, schooling, and knowledge of the world, he can partly fill the gap that Shad left when he went to war. And Milton offers yet another good example of maturity for Jethro to emulate.
Themes
After the meal, Ross Milton warns Jethro that Guy Wortman—whom Milton believes fully capable of making further trouble—lives on the road between Newton and the Creighton place. He wants to see Jethro on the road before the time Wortman usually leaves the saloon. In the newspaper office, he gives Jethro a fresh St. Louis newspaper for Jake Roscoe. Then Milton sends the boy on his way.
Guy Wortman has shown himself to be willing to engage with violence, at least in the dishonorable way of attacking those weaker than him, if not by risking his life to stand up for the Union he allegedly supports. He thus provides a negative example of the kind of man Jethro should not grow up to be: one who lacks the courage of his convictions and the bravery to face danger for them.
Themes
On the road, Jethro reflects with satisfaction on his day’s adventures, trying to push the ugly scene at the general store to the back of his mind. He knows it would worry his parents to hear about it; although Illinois has a long history as a free state, the close ties between many southern Illinoisans with the Confederate states has fueled rising tempers which sometimes spill over into violence. Twilight has come by the time Jethro passes the Burdow place again; the Burdows’ dogs bark at him and his team while a woman silently watches him pass. The two miles of wooded road lie ahead, but they still hold less terror for Jethro than passing the Burdows’ property.
Jethro’s thoughts on the ride home offer yet another reminder of the complicated web of alliances, kinships, and shared beliefs between the North and the South even during the incredibly divisive Civil War. Not only does this remind readers of how personal the brutal war becomes for almost everyone involved—at home as well as on the front lines—but it also pointedly claims that it’s impossible to reduce the issue of the war to simplistic arguments or solutions.
Themes
But no sooner has Jethro lost sight of the Burdow cabin than Dave Burdow himself materializes among the trees, standing beside a saddled horse. He stops Jethro and climbs up into the wagon with him. Jethro becomes increasingly terrified. Recalling Burdow’s reputation, he worries the man wants to steal his purchases from town. But eventually, Burdow reveals that, far from meaning Jethro ill, he has come to protect him from Guy Wortman, who passed down the road a little while ago. When Wortman springs from a ravine beside the road and whips the horses, sending them into panicked flight, big, strong, and experienced Burdow regains control before they can tip the wagon and injure or kill its passengers. Jethro only realizes that he’s clinging to Burdow’s arm after it’s all over.
In town, Guy Wortman judged Bill Creighton, whom he did not know personally, based on his actions. Jethro has, like most of his neighbors, been judging the Burdows based on their alleged criminality and actions. But when Dave risks his own life to protect Jethro, the boy realizes that he may have misjudged the family. This realization contributes to the book’s claim that real life rarely presents people with simple, clear-cut instances of right and wrong—and that an important part of being an adult and a good citizen involves grappling with this complexity. Also, from a structural standpoint, Dave Burdow could scarcely have found a less fitting way to begin redeeming his family’s reputation, since he saves Jethro from dying in more or less the exact same way his son Travis caused Mary’s death.
Themes
Dave Burdow rides with Jethro past Jake Roscoe’s place. Jethro hands over the promised newspaper wordlessly, still too shaken to speak. When Burdow stops the wagon and climbs down, he shows no sign of hearing Jethro’s mumbled thanks. Overcome with weariness, Jethro gives the horses free reign, trusting them to cover the final four miles of road while he dozes on the wagon bed, occasionally rousing and checking his parcels. When the lights of the cabin appear, he sobs with gratitude and exhaustion.
The conclusion of the journey reminds readers of Jethro’s youth and inexperience; his trip to town has taught him many important lessons about growing up, but he still has a long way to go.
Themes
Matt, Ellen, and Jenny greet Jethro with relief and excitement. They praise his good judgement and able handling of such a big responsibility as a trip to town and eagerly listen to the news of the day. At first, Jethro only tells them the good parts—the meeting with Roscoe, the lunch with Milton at the restaurant. When Matt and Jenny rise to prepare for sleep, he motions for them to sit again, and begins to tell them about his encounters with Guy Wortman and Dave Burdow.
The hardships that the Civil War has brought to the Creightons necessitated Jethro’s trip into town in the first place. And his story of meeting Guy Wortman and Dave Burdow’s brave actions brings home yet again the reality that the war leaves no family untouched. Jethro’s brothers, Eb, and Shad may be on the front lines, but war places civilian lives at risk, too.
Themes
