Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity
Family, Friendship, and Support
Bullying and Injustice vs. Kindness and Compassion
Race and Class
Summary
Analysis
The teacher sits Rufus next to Kenny in class. Kenny isn’t happy, since he wants to distance himself from the new kid—that’s the only way Rufus’s presence will distract people from making fun of Kenny. But Rufus tries to be friendly with him, which only frustrates Kenny.
Kenny’s hope that everyone will make fun of Rufus instead of him becomes a bit more complicated when the teacher sits them next to each other in class. In order for Kenny’s plan to work, he can’t get too close to Rufus—otherwise, he might end up getting made fun of, too. And yet, he can’t deny that Rufus seems quite friendly, which most likely makes it harder for Kenny to wish ill upon Rufus.
Themes
Much to Kenny’s dismay, Rufus sits with him at lunch. Rufus doesn’t have any lunch but claims to have just forgotten to bring one. Eventually, he asks why one of Kenny’s eyes is crossed. Kenny prepares himself for Rufus to tease him, but Rufus doesn’t. Instead, he casually changes the subject, pointing out a squirrel that he thinks is “fat” and “dumb.” Kenny doesn’t understand—what’s wrong with the squirrel? Rufus explains that where he’s from in Arkansas, squirrels are much more careful because everyone hunts them. Astounded to hear that Rufus has shot a gun before, Kenny gives him part of his sandwich.
Slowly but surely, Kenny opens up to Rufus, who is quite friendly—so friendly, it seems, that it’s hard for Kenny to dislike him. Unlike other people at school, Rufus doesn’t make fun of Kenny’s eye. Instead, he simply asks about it because he’s curious, but he doesn’t want to make Kenny feel bad about himself. To the contrary, Rufus just wants to make conversation, and though Kenny originally hoped that Rufus would attract the attention of the school bullies, he can’t help but warm up to his kindhearted new friend.
Themes
Rufus starts hanging out with Kenny a lot, coming over to play with his toy dinosaurs. Kenny doesn’t mind playing with Rufus, since he no longer has anyone to play with his dinosaurs. His old friend, LJ Jones, always stole the toys. Kenny and LJ would set up huge fights with all of Kenny’s dinosaurs, pretending some were Americans and some were Nazis. LJ always made Kenny be the Nazis. One day, they had the biggest dinosaur fight ever, and LJ tricked Kenny into burying the dead dinosaurs in mass graves in the ground. Then, at the end of the war, he distracted Kenny from digging up the dinosaurs. Later that night, Kenny remembered they were still out there, but by the time he went to check, LJ had already circled back and taken them home.
Rufus’s kindness stands in stark contrast to LJ Jones’s untrustworthy, mean-spirited ways. In the past, Kenny hasn’t been able to simply enjoy hanging out with a friend, instead constantly having to worry about how that friend might steal his toys. Similarly, Kenny is used to being around Byron, who often picks on him. Spending time with Rufus is therefore quite refreshing, since Kenny has finally found someone who seems to treat others with the same kindness and compassion that he himself practices.
Themes
Everyone at school picks on Rufus. They make fun of him for talking in a Southern accent and because he and his brother, Cody, only have a few articles of clothing. Rufus and Cody switch off wearing a single pair of jeans, so Larry Dunn makes fun of them by asking—in front of everyone—if they also share underwear. Everyone cracks up. Although he doesn’t mean to, even Kenny lets out a laugh. As soon as he does, Rufus pierces him with a scathing look. For the next few days, Rufus refuses to talk to him. When Kenny goes to Rufus’s house, Rufus says he doesn’t want to play dinosaurs. He thought Kenny was his friend and that he was different than everyone else, but now he’s not so sure.
Rufus feels betrayed by Kenny. They’ve developed a close friendship that is seemingly based on a sense of mutual appreciation and kindness. By laughing at Larry’s joke, then, Kenny violates his friend’s trust, thus throwing their bond into question. Worse, laughing at Rufus and Cody’s limited clothing supply is cruel in a classist way, making it seem to Rufus like Kenny thinks he’s somehow better than him simply because his family has enough money to clothe all of their children without any of the siblings needing to share.
Themes
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In the coming days, Kenny is really sad because he lost his friend. Other than Byron and Joey, Rufus and Cody were the only people in school whom Kenny didn’t feel like he had to look at sideways. His mother senses that something is wrong, so he eventually explains what happened. She tells him to give Rufus some space. The next day, Wilona talks to Rufus herself. That evening, Rufus appears at Kenny’s front door. Kenny greets him and apologizes, insisting that he really is different than the other people at school. Rufus admits that he knows Kenny isn’t like everyone else, and then they rush inside to play with the dinosaur toys.
Kenny is devastated when Rufus stops playing with him, since Rufus and Cody are the only people with whom Kenny feels truly comfortable. With everyone else, he feels like he has to look at them sideways, using the technique Byron taught him of hiding his lazy eye. With Rufus and Cody, though, Kenny feels like he can just be himself, so the idea of no longer having them as friends is deeply upsetting. Thankfully for him, though, Wilona recognizes just how important Rufus is to Kenny, so she helps them patch things up, thus giving Kenny the understanding and support that a dedicated parent can provide. Rufus quickly accepts Kenny’s apology, again showing his compassionate nature.
Themes
