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13. Cowboy
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
American Dreams and Values
Justice and Retribution
Human Connection
Love and Grace
Social Divisions and Tribalism
Summary
Analysis
Fatty Davis stands on the porch of his jook joint, cursing the chain of events that brought him here. First, he and Big Soap got fired. Then Big Soap busted his lip. Fatty, in need of a doctor and unwilling to see Doc Roberts or the closest Black doctor (a man with no respect for jook joint owners), ended up going over to Philadelphia to find one. There, he got pressed into running his cousin Gene’s dry-cleaning establishment for a few weeks while Gene recovered from a punctured lung that he received after he borrowed a horse from the all-White Chestnut Hill Riding Company and hitched it to an antiquated fire engine he’d just purchased, and it bolted. Gene’s wife paid Fatty (in part) in the top-shelf moonshine Nate Timblin is inside using to get drunk.
Fatty’s reservations about the up-tight local Black doctor point yet again to the fact that distinctions and divisions exist at all levels of society. Although all Black people in the book experience prejudice and discrimination, different groups employ different strategies to counteract it. Some, like that doctor, try to align themselves with White culture. But there are limits to this assimilationist, compliant strategy, as Gene’s story humorously but pointedly suggests. Black people, immigrants, and other marginalized groups are only allowed to approach White privilege so far before they’re inevitable stopped in their tracks.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
Fatty is so worried about what might happen that he even considers going to the Heaven & Earth Grocery store, letting himself in, and using the payphone to call the police on his own jook joint. Then he’d run back and warn everyone (including Nate) to clear out while he hid his hooch. But if Billy O’Connell, the meanest, most misanthropic of Pottstown’s four police officers, is on duty, Fatty might face disastrous consequences. Paper would know who’s on duty (she knows everything, all the time), but it’s 2 a.m., so he can’t really ask her. Ultimately, Fatty knows that the direct route is his only option. He goes inside and announces that it’s closing time.
Fatty is clearly scared that Nate will do something dangerous. It’s not yet fully clear why, although the book has dropped hints about Nate’s seething rage and his grievances are obvious enough—he's lost his beloved nephew and Chona is dying because of Doc’s actions. But Fatty’s hands are tied. He decides to deal with the problem himself because involving the police might make things worse. But this also aligns with the book’s idea about how a flourishing community takes care of its members. Unable to rely on broader society, Chicken Hill residents must band together.
Active
Themes
Some of the patrons grumble. But when they see Fatty approaching Nate, everyone but Rusty clears out. Fatty learned about the dark side of Nate from other prisoners in Graterford Prison when Fatty served two years there. A feared and respected prisoner named Dirt told Fatty that he would never cross Nate—whose real last name is “Love,” not “Timblin”—because he has a “curse or devilment” inside that makes him uncontrollable when he’s angry. Looking into Nate’s eyes now, Fatty sees a rage so deep and unquenchable it feels like a volcano about to erupt. Fortunately, sweet, innocent little Rusty breaks the silence first. He says that what happened to Dodo is just wrong. Nate softens lightly. Fatty agrees with Rusty and watches with relief as enough of Nate’s “white-hot rage” drains away to get him home.
Active
Themes
Nate mumbles something under his breath about “differing weights and differing measures.” Rusty and Fatty help him up, walk him home, and put him to bed. Then Rusty asks Fatty about Nate’s words. Fatty says that they’re from the Bible and that they signal trouble if the community can’t figure out a way to get Dodo back from Pennhurst soon.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
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