Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in When Will There Be Good News?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past
Appearances vs. Reality
Lies and Deceptions
Family
Summary
Analysis
Dr. Hunter remembers the name of Jessica’s dog. It was Scout. “He was such a good dog,” she remembers to Reggie. She and Reggie recite a nursery rhyme, “The Little Cock Sparrow,” to the baby. It ends, “Says the little cock sparrow, / ‘I’ll be shot if I stay,’ / So he clapped his wings / And then flew away.” They clap their hands, and the baby laughs.
In the aftermath of Andrew Decker’s death, Dr. Hunter seems to have found a degree of closure with her past, as she finally remembers the family dog’s name after all these years. The nursery rhyme echoes the theme of flight and escape that has characterized Joanna’s own life. As Reggie joins in Dr. Hunter’s habit of reciting such innocent rhymes to the baby, it remains an open question whether Reggie herself will remain innocent, or if she (and the baby) will nevertheless be haunted by the violence and deceptions that have marked Joanna’s life.
Themes
