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Chapter 4
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lyddie, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bravery, Endurance, and Hope
Labor, Enslavement, and Racial Prejudice
Biological Family vs. Found Family
Written Language and Power
Gender Inequality
Summary
Analysis
In April, Mistress Cutler decides to sell some of the Cutler farm’s goods in Boston, and she leaves for a week. In the mistress’s absence, Triphena encourages Lyddie to head home to her beloved cabin. Lyddie hesitantly agrees, and she heads off, planning to stop at the miller’s house to see Charlie.
Triphena’s kindly suggestion towards Lyddie shows that everyone around this teenager can see how much her family and childhood home mean to her.
Active
Themes
When Lyddie arrives at the mill, the miller’s wife answers the door, telling Lyddie that Charlie is at school. Lyddie feels embarrassed to have visited when Charlie was not there, and she also feels a little envious of the miller’s obvious fondness for Charlie—but she shoves it down. After all, she and Charlie “were nearly the same person, weren’t they?”
Now, Lyddie is able to articulate her discomfort at Charlie’s happiness with the miller’s family more explicitly. Even as she reminds herself of her bond with Charlie (they “were nearly the same person”), she also envies that he feels connected to his new home while she feels isolated from hers. And more than that, Charlie has access to education—a thing Lyddie hungers for.
Active
Themes
At last, Lyddie reaches her cabin. It looks like it’s in good condition, and she feels grateful for Luke’s caretaking. Remembering the wood she has piled by the door, Lyddie sneaks in the through the window. When Lyddie gets inside, however, she is shocked to see someone standing in the cabin—and even more surprised when she realizes the person is a Black man.
Active
Themes
