News of the World: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Johanna walks alongside the wagon, singing a Kiowa song about preparing for hard times. For all she knows, she’s heading into a land of draught and starvation, wearing an unfamiliar and impractical dress and separated from her family. She only sings because it’s “better than weeping.” Once she figures out where she’s going, she will either escape or starve herself to death.

The Captain sits on the driver’s seat of the wagon, staying out of the drizzle. He motions to Johanna to come closer and shows her the gun, telling her that it will protect them in case of trouble. She doesn’t react, and he knows better than to smile at her. She seems incredibly strange, but he can’t quite say why. Perhaps she lacks the “mobile and open” expressions of people raised in white societies. Even though she’s a young girl, she has the demeanor and carriage of an adult Native American.

Trying to teach Johanna some basic words, Captain Kidd points at her and says her name. She dodges, frightened because Kiowa people only point directly at their enemies. Captain Kidd says her name and his own over and over while Johanna looks at him quizzically. Eventually, she decides it’s unlikely he’s trying to curse her and responds, saying “Chohenna.”

Captain Kidd and Johanna have to cross the river, since there is no bridge. It’s a chaotic process, but Johanna remains calm the entire time. At night, the Captain shows Johanna his portable stove, which mystifies her. But suddenly, she makes the sign for fire in Plains Indian sign language; the Captain, who can sign a few words himself, realizes they have a means of basic communication. As the Captain cooks dinner, Johanna watches him carefully and strokes the horse’s sore leg.

While Johanna prays in a singsong voice over her food, Captain Kidd considers the possibility that she might try to run in the night. She might even try to kill him with the gun. After dinner he lies down in the wagon with his newspaper, commenting on the articles as if Johanna can understand. She watches him warily and he smiles to put her at ease. He knows he must now protect her at all costs, as it’s the duty of all “men who aspired to condition of humanity to protect children and kill for them if necessary.” But he wishes the task had fallen to someone else.

Aloud, Captain Kidd explains that writing tells us the things “we ought to know” and things that “we ought to want to know.” He puts away the newspaper, prays for everyone he knows, and falls asleep.