Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Johnny Tremain, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Pride vs. Humility
Patriotism and the Revolutionary War
Violence
Moral Integrity and Class
Summary
Analysis
1. By now, it’s the fall of 1773. On Sundays, Rab and Johnny go to church with Aunt and Uncle to listen to Doctor Cooper, who talks a lot about “taxation without representation.” England is currently taxing tea, figuring that the colonists are “yokels and farmers” rather than political thinkers, and that they’ll put their finances ahead of their principles. But in the last week of November, a rap on the attic door wakes Rab. Johnny goes downstairs first and finds Sam Adams: he needs printing done, though it’s Sunday. He explains that the first tea ship is entering the harbor, and the tea cannot land. Johnny fetches Mr. Lorne and Mr. Adams fills him in. He says that they must get the Governor to agree to send the ships back. They have 20 days; at that point, unloaded cargo can be seized and auctioned.
Around this time (beginning about a decade before), Whigs were rallying around the idea that Britain shouldn’t be able to tax colonists without their consent—so they either wanted Parliament to allow colonial governments to levy taxes, or they wanted representation in Parliament. Readers have already seen this political momentum picking up, so this cuts into the English idea that the colonists are just “yokels and farmers” (that is, are too unintelligent to know or care about what’s going on). Interestingly, Sam Adams wants this printing done on a Sunday, but the novel doesn’t frame this as a bad thing, as it did when Johnny tried to finish the sugar basin on a Sunday. While this printing aids a worthy cause, working on Sunday only fed Johnny’s pride and arrogance.
Themes
Mr. Adams adds that the Observers will meet tonight before a mass meeting tomorrow. To let them know about the meeting, Johnny will go around and tell members that they owe eight shillings. At Mr. Hancock’s house, the enslaved housekeeper won’t let Johnny see Mr. Hancock, but she lets him send a note up. As Johnny sits in the kitchen, he notices the silver set for which he tried to make the sugar basin. The sugar basin that Mr. Hancock now has is done wrong, but Johnny is glad he hurt his hand on something “worth while.”
That Mr. Adams sends Johnny to deliver news of the meeting is significant: it shows that his new community has accepted him. He’s trusted and has responsibilities now, and he's finding his place in the world. When he encounters the sugar basin, it’s like stepping back into his old world. Johnny has matured some, but not all that much—he still pridefully maintains that he could’ve done a better job than the silversmith who ultimately completed the piece.
Themes
Next, Johnny goes to the Lytes’, who are Mr. Hancock’s neighbors, just to see what they do on Sundays. Miss Lavinia gallops into the courtyard, even though it’s illegal to ride on Sundays. Nobody is there to help her dismount, so she scornfully tells Johnny to help her. Then, Johnny visits Mr. Molineaux and Josiah Quincy, John Adams, and James Otis. The latter three are vising at the Quincy house, and Mr. Quincy already knows of the meeting. He signals to Johnny to say nothing; he doesn’t want James Otis to know about it. Mr. Otis is the most brilliant of the Observers, though since suffering a head injury he’s now alternately “crazy and sane.” Johnny visits Doctor Church next, whom he doesn’t like.
Johnny just wants to feed his curiosity and see what his potential relatives are all about, but what he finds isn’t all that flattering. Miss Lavinia clearly believes she’s above the law—and can bully any boy she finds in her courtyard to help her. Like Johnny, Mr. Otis has a disability of sorts: his injury causes society to see him as mentally unwell. And like Johnny, Mr. Otis is still a part of the community that (mostly) welcomes him—though they exclude him from the most exciting parts of the Observers’ activities.
Themes
2. Johnny visits Paul Revere last, looking around for Cilla and Isannah at the pump. Since Johnny hasn’t made their last three meetings, he’s relieved that they’re not there. He continues to Mr. Revere’s. When he comes back out, Cilla and Isannah are at the pump. Cilla looks shabby and unwell. Johnny pities her: he’s entered a new world, but she used to be his only friend. She knows nothing about the tea and the secret meeting, and nothing she says seems remotely interesting. Since Johnny feels uncomfortable, he blames it on Cilla. She’s irritating, as is Isannah, so Johnny leaves for Dr. Warren’s house.
It's difficult for Johnny to see Cilla and Isannah now, in part because it’s emotionally uncomfortable to see how far the Lapham family has fallen financially. To Johnny, life simply isn’t worth living if one isn’t involved in the resistance against the British, which helps him justify feeling angry at Cilla. Once again, his pity—and perhaps his shame at his role in the Laphams’ fall—comes out as anger and cruelty to other people.
Themes
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At Dr. Warren’s house, Johnny removes his mittens and stretches his fingers in front of the fire. Sensing that the doctor is looking at Johnny’s hand, Johnny shoves it back into his pocket. He refuses to let the doctor see it. Johnny counts to 10 and then, when Dr. Warren asks if it was “God’s will,” Johnny says yes. This isn’t true—Dr. Warren is asking if it’s a birth defect—but Johnny ruined his hand on a Sunday.
At the beginning of this passage, Johnny seems to be taking Rab’s advice to heart: he no longer cares so much about his hand. However, that gets somewhat uncomfortable in a doctor’s presence, especially when that doctor seems to be implying that he could help Johnny. Just as it did with Cilla in the previous passage, Johnny’s shame keeps him from being able to fully understand his emotions and connect with Dr. Warren.
Themes
3. All of Boston is excited. Johnny can hear people running and shouting outside—some are Sons of Liberty, tacking up Mr. Adams’s notices. Johnny goes to look and sees a Tory chasing Whigs who tried to tack a notice to his house. The men turn on him and begin to brawl, which makes Johnny feel sick. Trying not to listen to the sickening punches outside, Johnny asks Rab how events will play out. Rab says simply that they can fight the British and that they’ll know what the Observers decide once the meeting is over. Soon after, Mr. Lorne calls downstairs for Rab and Johnny to bring up the punch. The atmosphere is tense, but Johnny recognizes a look on Mr. Adams’s face that Rab described earlier: that of an “old dog fox with a fat pullet in his mouth.”
Johnny is a Whig, so on one hand, it would make sense for him to support the Whigs in beating up the Tory. However, the violence (the threat he's hearing outside, and the threat of violence later, depending on what happens with the tea ships) clearly disturbs Johnny. This is something the novel links to Johnny’s youth and innocence. Rab, on the other hand, is several years older and way more mature, so he understands better that this violence has a purpose. And Mr. Adams—clearly an adult—understands best of all that a war might be coming, and with it, violence.
Themes
The men toast and drink to December 16, which is the day when the tea must either return to England or be destroyed. Johnny realizes that these men don’t actually want the tea returned—they want war. Noticing Dr. Warren smiling at him, Johnny feels ashamed for not letting the doctor look at his hand earlier. Embarrassed, Johnny turns away. He knows he can never ask Dr. Warren for help now.
This is a moment where Johnny becomes a bit disillusioned with the Observers. He’s thought they wanted peace, but now he realizes they, like Rab, want war—and that’s not yet something he can totally stomach. And one last time, Johnny’s shame keeps him from connecting to Dr. Warren, even just to form a friendship.
Themes
Mr. Hancock is sitting with his head in his hands, but Sam Adams stands and announces that Rab and Johnny are exactly the kind of trusted boys they need. Once the men vote to let the boys in on the secret, Mr. Adams explains that on December 16, they need boys to board the three tea ships and dump the tea into the harbor. They need honest boys; if any tea is stolen, it’s not a just protest anymore. He asks Rab to join and doesn’t ask Johnny, making Johnny wonder if Adams thinks Johnny is too disabled to help.
That Johnny notices Mr. Hancock’s clearly upset posture suggests that Johnny is becoming more compassionate—that is, he cares more now about the people around him. However, Johnny goes right back to thinking about himself when Mr. Adams doesn’t explicitly ask Johnny to join the protest. Even now, Johnny is afraid that everyone is focusing on his hand and ignoring what else he can do.
Themes
4. That night, Johnny asks Rab if he can help dump the tea in the harbor, even with his hand. Rab says Johnny has 20 days to learn to use an axe; there are logs in the yard to practice on. When Rab falls asleep, Johnny wonders why he didn’t let Dr. Warren see his hand. And why doesn’t he go visit Cilla every week when he knows he loves her? He’s so mean to her.
Johnny is finally becoming more self-aware. He realizes he’s not been polite to Cilla or to Dr. Warren, and he realizes that his rudeness is harming his relationships with both of them. However, note that at this point, Johnny doesn’t know how to fix this situation. For now, recognizing that he needs to change is as far as he can take his development.
Themes
5. Johnny is up early the next morning and practices splitting logs. When he runs out of logs, he begins chopping for the Afric Queen for free. Meanwhile, people gather daily at Old South Church, angrily arguing about the tea and the taxes. Governor Hutchinson won’t let the ships leave Boston without unloading their tea, while Boston won’t allow the ships to unload. The owner of one ship, the Dartmouth, fears a mob will burn his ship—but civilians guard the ship, including sometimes John Hancock and Paul Revere. By the 15th, all three of the tea ships are in the harbor.
Johnny believes in the protest, but he also wants to take this opportunity to prove show himself and others what he can do, despite having a burnt hand. The ship owner’s fears highlight how high tensions are running in Boston right now; people fear violence and theft. This particular conflict arose because, as the narration notes, the ships can’t leave Boston but they also can’t unload their cargo. Other ships containing tea that were bound for other colonial ports were sent back—but Governor Hutchinson refused to allow this to happen in Boston.
Themes
6. Around sunset on the 16th, Rab’s boys begin gathering in the Observer’s office to put on their “Indian” disguises. After dividing the boys into three groups and assigning them a ship, Rab turns to Johnny. Johnny is to go to Old South Church and listen to Mr. Adams’s response to Mr. Rotch. Depending on what coded phrase Mr. Adams says, the group will either disband or, if Johnny blows his whistle, they’ll head for the tea ships. Johnny races through the crowds and pushes as far into the church as he can. He watches Rotch arrive, and minutes later, Mr. Adams stands and says, “This meeting can do nothing more to save the country.” Johnny blows his whistle and races back to the Observer’s office. Hopefully Rab hasn’t abandoned him.
Some historians believe that dressing as “Indians” (specifically, Native Americans from the Mohawk tribe) was an intentional choice to associate the protestors with America, rather than with the British at all. Put simply, the disguises highlight that the protesters are American, not British. Though the Observers give Johnny a pretty important job, he still fears that they’re disregarding him because of his hand. He doesn’t yet value jobs like this, which are important but not as showy as dressing up, boarding a ship, and dumping tea into the harbor.
Themes
Rab is still at the office, and he helps Johnny dress quickly. They take back alleys to the wharf and line up behind Paul Revere with dozens of other boys—some of whom are clearly acting on the spur of the moment. The group boards the Dartmouth, where the captain gives them the keys to the hold and the cabin boy offers to help. Johnny has never worked so hard in his life cutting open the tea chests. He soon notices that one new volunteer on board is Dove—and Dove is scooping tea into his pockets. Rab flings Dove into the harbor. When the work is done, Johnny and other boys sweep the deck, leaving it clean and undamaged.
The implication here is that Rab found a lot of boys he’s certain are trustworthy, but there are still many more boys in Boston who feel the revolutionary spirit and want to participate. However, encountering Dove stealing tea highlights that some of these boys might be opportunistic and not involved for moral or political reasons—though the novel frames Rab throwing Dove overboard as a fitting punishment for Dove’s transgression. It’s also no doubt cathartic for Johnny, who’s yearned to get back at Dove for some time now.
Themes
As the three groups disembark the ships, a fife starts up in the crowd of onlookers. It’s now almost dawn, and a British soldier, Admiral Montague, wryly calls out a window that the colonists will have to “pay the fiddler.” Everyone knows this, and everyone knows that England will punish all of Boston, Whig and Tory alike. While everyone else is exhausted the next day, Paul Revere rides to New York and Philadelphia to spread the news of the tea party.
To “pay the fiddler” is to accept the consequences for one’s actions, especially if a consequence is punishment of some sort. Admiral Montague is suggesting that what the boys have done isn’t something that England will allow to go unpunished. In this passage though, the only consequence the boys suffer is being extremely tired the next day—but there will no doubt be more to come.
Themes
