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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dread Nation, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Legacy of Slavery
Racism and Trauma
Religion and Power
Friendship, Community, and Liberation
Systemic Oppression and Change
Summary
Analysis
In a letter to Momma, Jane says that one of the aims of Miss Preston’s school is to help students learn beyond the classroom. That means that Jane frequently travels to Baltimore, where she has learned just as much as she has at school.
This passage suggests that Jane’s letters to Momma often provide an introduction to the chapter that is about to follow. In this case, the letter suggests that Jane may be headed to Baltimore.
Themes
After leaving Miss Preston’s office, Jane is late for a lecture in Baltimore. She rushes and finds a spot in a steam-powered car, called a pony, with Miss Duncan and Katherine. As they drive to Baltimore, Jane recalls when Momma’s husband, Major McKeene, came home after the war. When he was home, he eventually turned into a shambler and tried to bite Momma. Jane also reflects on the state of the country. Baltimore is relatively safe from shamblers because, due to its proximity to Washington, D.C., there’s an active militia. In places like Georgia, though, the shamblers are almost always present, especially because of the warm weather (the shamblers go dormant in winter in colder states).
This passage again points to the novel’s use of the shamblers as a symbol of how racist violence and oppression persist in the wake of the Civil War and during the Reconstruction era. In this case, the novel explicitly cites Georgia as a state where there is a high concentration of shamblers. During the Reconstruction era, Georgia implemented “convict leasing,” a policy in which Black people were arrested for minor crimes and then forced into involuntary servitude, thereby replicating the power structures of slavery. In 1871, Georgia implemented a poll tax, which was a racist policy that sought to disenfranchise recently freed Black people.
Themes
As Miss Duncan, Jane, and Katherine are driving, they see a lone shambler on the side of the road. They then talk about the presence of shamblers in the area. Jane says that Survivalists, whose motto is “America will be safe again,” claim to have wiped out shamblers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston single-handedly. Jane says she doesn’t believe their claims, though. Miss Duncan tells Jane that they shouldn’t talk politics.
Notably, the novel shows how the Survivalists play on public fears related to the shamblers to retain power. Jane’s disbelief suggests that the Survivalists are manipulating public fear to gain political power without actually addressing the root issues of the problems at hand. The Survivalists’ slogan also bears a resemblance to Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” drawing a link between the novel’s commentary on the Survivalists and contemporary events.
Themes
