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5. February: Fighting
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Riding the Bus with My Sister, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Disability, Access, and Self-Determination
Love and Family
Community vs. Individualism
Growth, Change, and Morality
Summary
Analysis
On the bus one morning in March, the bus driver Jacob points Rachel ahead to a hill. He explains that, in the past, the old buses weren’t powerful enough to climb the hill unless some people got out and walked. That made it easy to see who was selfless—it was whoever agreed to walk.
Just like Tim, Jacob will help Rachel appreciate a virtue she didn’t fully understand before—in this case, charity. In turn, Tim’s wisdom will help her make sense of her past, her isolation, and her relationship with Beth.
Active
Themes
Rachel has returned to ride with Beth about ten days after her previous visit. Beth found her a safe place to park, and the winter is already fading. Jacob drives so smoothly that Rachel scarcely notices when they’re moving and when they’re stopped.
The slowly fading winter and Jacob’s smooth, imperceptible braking both symbolize the cyclical, gradual nature of change. In turn, these details foreshadow the slow, steady progress that both Rachel and Beth make on their journeys through life during their year together.
Active
Themes
Beth complains about Gus, a bus driver who’s mean to her, but Jacob says that Gus is just grouchy because he’s had a very hard life—just like another driver who just died, and was always mean to Beth. In fact, when Beth sent him a card in the hospital, he was delighted. Beth blushes when Jacob insists that she’s a good person who loves everyone.
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Themes
Then, an elderly woman loudly complains that the bus just entered Zone 1, which Beth’s bus pass doesn’t cover. She insists that Beth should be thrown off the bus for “cheating the system.” After a few minutes, Jacob tells Beth to show the woman her bus pass: it says “Zone 1.” Later, after the woman leaves, Jacob tells Rachel that “nothing bothers Beth,” even if some of the elderly passengers are mean to her.
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Themes
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Beth plays with some kids on the bus—they sing and clap together, and the kids see that she’s more fun and accepting than other grown-ups. Rachel envies Beth’s ability to connect with children, and Jacob comments that Beth always knows who’s trustworthy. But they disagree about how to deal with trouble: Beth believes in revenge (or “an eye for an eye”), while Jacob believes in mercy (or the Golden Rule). He jokes that while Beth annoys some drivers, she helps him learn to be more patient and selfless. Beth hears this and smiles as she plays with the kids.
Active
Themes
Later, as they wait for a train to pass, Beth comments that Jacob once died. Jacob explains that he used to be a serious alcoholic. He got hepatitis B, and one day, he fell asleep on his couch and ended up in a three-week coma. He barely managed to get a liver transplant, and his heart briefly stopped during the procedure. When he woke up, he completely lost his memory, but everything around him suddenly looked unbelievably beautiful. He felt like he was in heaven, or a state of “total purity.” Things started going right in his life. He started reading the Bible and working to improve himself.
Active
Themes
Jacob says that he is so grateful that someone donated their liver to him—which is the ultimate act of selflessness. The train passes, and he drives ahead; he tells Beth that his near-death experience is why he believes in the Golden Rule. But Beth says that she still isn’t convinced—and that she needs to use the bathroom. Jacob promises that he’ll convince her eventually, and he lets her and Rachel off the bus.
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