Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Bud, Not Buddy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Economic Insecurity and Community
Children vs. Adults
Resourcefulness
Family and Home
Race and Racism
Summary
Analysis
Bud enters the library; he closes his eyes and breathes deeply to take in all the smells—that of old leather-bound books, new cloth-covered ones, and the “soft, powdery, drowsy smell” of paper “that comes off the pages in little puffs when you’re reading.” He hypothesizes that the “hypnotizing smell” of the library is the reason why “so many folks fall asleep” in it. Bud imagines that it’s the drooling that upsets librarians the most.
Bud takes comfort in being in the library, so it makes sense that it was the first place he turned to after running away from the Amoses’ house. The library perhaps serves as a comforting reminder to Bud that answers are right around the corner. That comfort can even, according to Bud, lull one into a peaceful sleep.
Themes
When Bud opens his eyes after taking a big whiff, he starts his search for Miss Hill. When he doesn’t see her at the lending desk, he drops his suitcase with a white lady there, noting that he “[knew] it would be safe.”
Throughout the novel, Bud rarely parts with his treasured suitcase and doesn’t trust anyone with it. However, it’s clear that the library is a place that brings him comfort and makes him feel safe, so it’s fitting that he thinks his suitcase will be safe with a librarian. Given that the librarian is a white woman, though, this moment also raises the question of if Bud has internalized some racial stereotypes and thus assumes that because the woman is white—not because she’s a librarian—she won’t steal or harm the suitcase.
Themes
After checking the library three times, Bud goes back to the white lady at the lending desk. He declines her offer to give him back his suitcase and asks her instead of Miss Hill’s whereabouts. The librarian is taken aback by Bud’s question and realizes he hasn’t “heard” the news. Bud is wary of what the librarian is going to say because, as he notes in “rule 16” of his guide, whenever an adult brings up a conversation with “Haven’t you heard,” they are about to “drop you headfirst into boiling tragedy.”
Again, Bud leaves his suitcase with the white librarian as he talks to her, which is perhaps another reflection of how much trust he has in the librarian’s whiteness and what he consequently assumes to be her inability to steal. As Bud swiftly prepares himself to hear bad news, the novel suggests that he has grown accustomed to hearing bad news from adults, which is likely part of why he is so wary of them.
Themes
Bud prepares himself for the worst news, assuming it has to do with “kicking the bucket,” but the librarian tells him that the news isn’t bad, unless he had “matrimonial plans concerning Ms. Hill.” She reveals that Ms. Hill, with her new husband, recently moved to Chicago, Illinois.
While it’s certainly disheartening that Bud now has one less adult he can trust in his life, the revelation that Ms. Hill has gotten married and moved away at least puts Bud’s anxiety to rest. His hasty conclusion that Ms. Hill “kick[ed] the bucket”—meaning that she died—suggests that Bud’s mother’s death was perhaps also framed to him as big news that some adult had to tell him about, and now he assumes all big news is bad news.
Themes
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The librarian shows Bud where Chicago is in relation to Flint on a map. Bud notes, however, that maps are tricky. He asks the librarian how far it would take him to walk there. She responds that it’ll take him “quite a while.” After opening a few more books to double check the distance, she notes that it would take Bud 54 hours to walk there. Bud is devastated and sits down to think about his next steps. He notes that returning to the Home is “out”—it’s a revolving door of new kids and sick babies, and the adults there don’t even know the names of the children in their care.
The librarian continues to help Bud find answers, this time about Chicago’s distance from Flint. It seems that Bud initially considers walking to Chicago, but it soon becomes clear that will not be possible because of the distance. For once, Bud does not have another plan up his sleeve and has to take time to think through his options. What is clear, however, is that returning to the Home and the negativity and isolation it fuels is completely out of the question.
Themes
A little after, Bud retrieves his suitcase and leaves the library. He is sure that a new door is about to “open” just like Momma said, because the closing library door behind him is “the exact kind of door Momma had told [him] about.” Soon after, he sleeps under a tree.
Though he’s exceedingly mature for his age, Bud’s youth shines through in this passage as he takes his mother’s advice literally and believes that since the physical door to the library just closed, a new door—metaphorical or otherwise—will open.
Themes
