Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in What the Eyes Don’t See, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Environmental Injustice
Truth vs. Corruption
Community Values and Collective Duty
The American Dream
Family, Tradition, and Strength
Summary
Analysis
Mona knew that what she and her team needed to do next was to get a health advisory issued in order to alert the public. Kirk Smith reached out to the director of public works in Flint, Howard Croft—but Croft assured him that the water was fine. Mona and Kirk knew he was lying, or that he’d bought someone else’s lies. But soon, an email from the mayor, Dayne Walling, reached Kirk—Walling wanted to talk. Mona was relieved that someone was listening, even if the person really in charge of Flint was its city manager, Natasha Henderson. Mona had just two days to make a presentation for the mayor’s office to convince them that a health advisory was necessary.
After weeks of inaction, a sudden influx of attention from local government officials started to pour in for Mona and her team. This was a situation that had to be handled delicately. Mona would have to present her research to these local officials in order to get a public health advisory issued—but she knew that just because she presented them with the facts didn’t necessarily mean they would listen.
Themes
The weekend of September 19th, Mona’s brother Mark was in town for a law school reunion. Like Mona, Mark (a public interest lawyer) was always fighting for the underdog. Though Mona was busy with the conference that weekend, she was able to make time to visit with Mark and his children—and to update Mark on the situation with the Flint water. Mark, a politically astute activist, warned Mona that the mayor—who was up for reelection—might not be motivated to admit there was something wrong. Mark also warned Mona that she would soon be seen as a whistleblower. She’d definitely face pushback, and possibly even graver retaliatory measures from the county and the state.
In this passage, Mark’s advice reveals the dark side of any struggle for social justice and meaningful change. Mona’s brother Mark knew that the government of Flint would not be so readily willing to admit that there was a crisis—and they’d be especially less motivated to connect the crisis to the city’s history of racial injustice. Even though Mona’s movement had been gathering support, Mark didn’t want her to forget about the consequences of exposing corruption.
Themes
Mona was already stressed, but the idea that things could get worse for her personally and professionally didn’t faze her—her mind was only on the children of Flint and their well-being. Mark and Mona kept their conversation quiet, hoping not to worry Bebe. But as Mark’s words sunk in, Mona began feeling worried—she didn’t want to bring aeb (Arabic for “shame”) onto her family. But even as Mona’s anxiety mounted over the course of their conversation, Mark encouraged her to remain strong in her resolve—he told Mona that she already knew what it was she had to do.
Even though Mark was warning Mona of some potential adversities ahead, he was still encouraging her to press forward with her work. This illustrates that Mona’s entire family supported the values she believed in—and that because of this, she could turn to them in times of crisis for validation and strength.
Themes
