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
The end of August—generally a sleepy, slow time— was chaotic time for Mona. Elliott got news that he might need more surgery, and her parents were traveling: her father was in China and her mother was in D.C., staying with Mark and his family. Not only was Mona busy with her children, but she was constantly anxious as she waited to hear back from the Genesee County health authorities. But as the work week started back up, Mona heard nothing. Mona confided in Elliott, warning him that the water situation in Flint was bad and had been for over 18 months. Elliott encouraged Mona not to give up.
This passage shows that even in the midst of a chaotic time, Mona was able to draw strength and solidarity from her family. Her husband didn’t know the full extent of what she was dealing with, and yet he encouraged her wholeheartedly to pursue what was right.
Themes
By the beginning of September, Mona still hadn’t heard from any county health officials. Frustrated, she emailed Elin to ask about the exact date the water switch happened—she wanted to start a report on patients’ lead levels before and after. Children on Medicaid, those who lived in older homes, and those whose parents did anything that brought them in contact with lead were supposed to have regular lead-level tests done. The screening rates were low, but Mona knew that she could get her hands on some of the clinic data for kids in Flint.
As it became abundantly clear to Mona that local officials weren’t planning on volunteering any information, she realized that getting the facts out was even more important that she’d initially thought. Anything that might prove there was a problem in Flint could possibly get the attention of the people with the power to do something.
Themes
Mona emailed the county again, but still she received no response. She then emailed Dean Sienko, an old friend and physician who’d worked for the CDC, the state, and the county. Because he was the associate dean of public health at Michigan State University, Mona called him “Dean Dean.” She looped Dean Dean into her research so far and forwarded him the emails she’d sent to the county.
In this passage, Mona begins building a team in earnest. Unable to get any help or attention for her patients through traditional routes, she sets her sights on finding people who are just as passionate about public health—and the people of Flint—as she is.
Themes
After a lukewarm, minimally informative response from the county came in, Mona emailed the chief medical information officer at Hurley to try to get some of the blood-lead surveillance data from the county. The medical information officer didn’t write her back by the end of the day, and Mona left the hospital dreading the long Labor Day weekend ahead of her. She couldn’t stop thinking about the children of Flint who’d be running through sprinklers and drinking from park water fountains over the next several days.
In this passage, Mona uses dramatic irony to increase her readers’ anxiety about the water crisis. Because most people in Flint didn’t yet fully understand what the problem was—or, in some cases, that there was a problem at all—they were doing seemingly innocuous activities that, given the presence of lead, became downright dangerous.
Themes
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On Tuesday morning, though, the medical information officer wrote Mona back, promising to help her collect some of the data she needed. Next, Mona wrote to the director of the hospital’s research department asking for her assistance with a data set on lead levels. Then, Mona decided to call an old contact from the state’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, Karen Lishinski. She called Karen directly, and Karen admitted that there had been a spike in lead levels over the summer. She offered to email Mona the results of the test, but the email didn’t come through.
In this passage, Mona illustrates the staggered, piecemeal progress she was able to make as she started alerting more people to the potential water crisis. While her colleagues were eager to help, local and state officials were still being evasive or dragging their heels. This tipped Mona off to the fact that there was a concerted coverup under way—the government didn’t want certain information to reach certain people.
Themes
Frustrated, Mona emailed the Genesee County Health Department once again, referencing what Karen had told her. She also copied Dean Dean on the email, hoping that the county officials wouldn’t discount an email he was copied on. But Dean Dean replied to the recipients of the email suggesting that the spike could have come from lead paint. Mona was growing more and more discontent—she knew she wouldn’t have to take on just the health department, but also a group of decorated officials’ preconceived notions about lead.
This passage shows that there are many layers to a crisis like the one in Flint. Government neglect is one part of the problem—but lack of education is another. Even professionals like Mona’s colleague Dean Dean couldn’t conceive of the reality of a lead-water crisis, and so they scrambled to come up with other potential sources of lead. This passage underscores the importance of community action—and community education.
Themes
