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Chapter 4
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 writes about the many interesting lectures she attends at school.
Again, Jane tries to portray her school life as lively and engaging when the truth is more complicated.
Themes
Jane then attends a lecture at the Baltimore University of Surgery, Medicine, and Thanatology (thanatology is the study of death). When Jane enters the lecture hall, she sees Mayor Carr. He’s wearing a white and red ascot that signals that he’s a member of the Survivalist Party. The Survivalists believe that for humanity to continue, White people have to be protected first because White people are superior to people of other races. The Survivalists aim to rebuild “the country in the image of its former glory.”
This passage shows that the Survivalists’ political platform is explicitly racist and White supremacist. Notably, the Survivalists use religion to bolster that political message, underlining the novel’s view about how religion can be used as a way to manipulate people and build political power. Given that the novel takes place immediately following the Civil War, the Survivalists’ aim to return the country to its “former glory” suggests that the party intends to reinstate slavery.
Themes
The lecture then begins. During the lecture, Professor Ghering says that the plague that turns people into shamblers is transmitted through pathogens. He then claims that Native people and Black people are less likely to contract the disease if bitten. Jane knows that’s not true. Professor Ghering uses racist, pseudoscientific ideas to support his claims. Ghering then unveils a cage that holds three shamblers. People in the crowd gasp. Ghering brings out his assistant, Othello, who is Black. Ghering says that Othello has been vaccinated against the plague of shamblers and that he’s going to let a shambler bite him to prove the vaccine’s efficacy. Ultimately, Ghering adds, the idea is to show why Mayor Carr is right to have implemented patrols that are made up exclusively of Black people to protect the city from shamblers.
This passage points out how the Survivalists use fake science to support their racist claims and policies. Ghering then also uses Othello as a guinea pig in his supposedly scientific experiment, illustrating the ways that the Survivalists view and treat Black people as disposable. Ghering’s experiment then echoes the Survivalists’ policy of forcing Black people to patrol the city against shamblers. Again, given that the novel takes place during the Reconstruction era and that the shamblers symbolize the pervasive racism of that time and beyond, the Survivalists’ policies serve as a metaphor for the racist political policies put in place in the U.S. during the Reconstruction era.
Themes
Jane can’t listen to Ghering’s bogus and racist claims any longer. She stands up in the crowd and asks what they plan to do if Othello does in fact turn into a shambler after he’s bitten. Mayor Carr stands up and says that there’s nothing to worry about and tells Jane to sit down. Othello then puts his hand in the cage of shamblers, and the shamblers bite his arm. Not long after, he begins to turn into a shambler and attacks Ghering. Chaos ensues. Miss Duncan tells Katherine and Jane to help her subdue the shamblers. Jane takes a gun from under her skirt. She announces to the crowd that they have everything under control, though she knows she’s lying when she says that.
This passage shows once more that Jane is outspoken and willing to stand up for what she believes in. In response, racist and White supremacist people who hold political power, like Mayor Carr, attempt to silence her. Jane then proves to be right about the ineffectiveness of the vaccine, illustrating how untrustworthy the figures of supposed authority—like the mayor and Professor Ghering—are in the novel. Jane then responds with cool and calm when the shamblers begin to attack, illustrating Jane’s fearlessness and competence in the face of danger.
Themes
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