Dreamland Burning

Part 1, Sections 1-5

Reading Check

1. Because her car has just been totaled (Part 1, Section 1)

2. Old bones (Part 1, Section 1)

3. In a speakeasy (Part 1, Section 2)

4. Bloody clothes, a pistol with eight notches, cracks in the skull, and a brick matching the cracks (Part 1, Section 5)

Short Answer

1. Will is mostly enraged that another man is touching the girl he loves but uses racism as an outlet to avenge himself on the Black man who acted familiar with Addie. Will does not consider the consequences of his actions, either because he does not care or because he is unaware of the potential consequences. This points to the novel’s theme of Intersections of Privilege because Will is described as a white rich man who does not need to worry much about Racialized Violence, but he is also concerned with what his parents might think and therefore could have more going on at home than meets the eye. (Part 1, Sections 2 and 4)

2. She tells James she is sometimes ashamed of it. She also indicates that she feels uncomfortable around police officers because she feels they view her as suspicious because she is Black. (Various sections)

Part 1, Sections 6-12

Reading Check

1. She is a member of the Osage Nation who inherited lands where oil was discovered. (Part 1, Section 6)

2. He must work in his father’s shop. (Part 1, Section 6)

3. Rowan’s mother is Black and lives in a wealthy neighborhood. (Part 1, Section 7)

4. Greenwood is a Black neighborhood. It has nice houses and shops, and the people are well dressed. (Part 1, Section 8)

5. A piece of leather that she discovers is a wallet with a coin from 1921 inside (Part 1, Section 9)

6. He is the tobacco shop owner. Will fears him. (Part 1, Section 10)

Short Answer

1. Stan appears to want to prevent Will’s mother from knowing about the sale because she would disapprove. This seems odd because Will’s mother is treated with a similar prejudice as people in the Black community, and one would think she would be more sympathetic. (Part 1, Section 8)

2. Up to this point in the novel, there have been a variety of racial tensions past and present. Rowan is biracial. She has a Black mother and a white father. Police make her nervous because she is concerned about police brutality. Also in the present day, there are tensions as the crew leaves because they are believed to be undocumented immigrants. In 1921, after Clarence is violently attacked, both the police officer and Will demonstrate prejudice. Stan sells a Victrola to a Black family but believes that Will’s Osage mother would disapprove. There is also the added conflict of Will’s family needing a white overseer to help distribute the Osage funds. (Various sections)

Part 1, Sections 13-21

Reading Check

1. Joseph Goodhope (Part 1, Section 14)

2. A receipt made out to J. Goodhope at the Victrola Shop (Part 1, Section 15)

3. A KKK robe and hood (Part 1, Section 16)

4. He has one notch for each of the innocent Black men he has killed. (Part 1, Section 18)

Short Answer

1. It is possible Stan is sympathetic to the situation Black people face in his community. He has a biracial family himself and has been called names because of his decision to marry a Native American woman. It is also mentioned that he will haggle with his Black customers and does not become outraged when they ask for a payment plan. Will is surprised by his father’s interactions with his Black customers.

On the other hand, Joseph is swindled by Stan with a stringent payment plan; therefore; Stan may just be greedy and willing to take advantage of people who cannot report a grievance for an illegal purchase to the police. (Various sections)

2. Addie is friends with Clarence; he moved in with Addie’s family after his father died. Addie apologizes because she knew there was a risk involved with being seen with Clarence in public, and she believes it is more her fault than Will’s. (Various sections)

Part 2, Sections 1-6

Reading Check

1. He is accused of attacking a white woman. Will knows Dick and the crime doesn’t match his personality. (Part 2, Section 1)

2. Arvin tries to help Rowan get to the hospital after she has been rear-ended in her car. The angry white man who hit Rowan’s car throws Arvin into the street, where he is run over by an SUV and killed. (Part 2, Section 2)

3. A safe place to stay while there are mobs at the courthouse in Greenwood (Part 2, Section 3)

4. Stanley died of a heart attack after his shop was closed, and William was missing the year that he died. (Part 2, Section 4)

5. He is looking for Ruby, who has been missing since noon. (Part 2, Section 5)

Short Answer

1. Based on clues such as the notches in Vernon’s gun and Clete’s willingness to create a junior KKK group, Clete and Vernon are likely to hurt someone in the Black community. They have been trying to recruit Will to join them. (Various sections)

2. According to the novel, a white person had to control an Indigenous person’s money. Many white men married Indigenous women to acquire wealth. This could be dangerous for the women because they were sometimes killed so their husband could keep their fortune. (Various sections)

Part 2, Sections 7-12

Reading Check

1. He escapes out the back room with Joseph. (Part 2, Section 7)

2. Raymond Fisher is a Black man who had a military-issue gun that was found at the crime scene at Rowan’s house. It is presumably the same gun Vernon had because of the notches. (Part 2, Section 8)

3. He pretends to be participating in support of their cause. (Part 2, Section 9)

4. She would not set foot in the house Rowan lives in because she knew there was a body buried there. (Part 2, Section 10)

5. She has found bloodstains from two separate people on some floorboards. (Part 2, Section 12)

Short Answer

1. Rowan probably feels pressure not only from the media but also from the comments of people who speculate about Arvin’s involvement in the incident. She tells her mother that she is uncertain about whether the crime was racially motivated. (Various sections)

2. Having been inadvertently connected to a racial hate crime himself, Will probably feels an obligation to help people he previously did not even consider. Will is also moved by his relationship with Ruby and sees her as a younger sister. He has also grown attached to Joseph and wants to help. (Various sections)

Part 2, Sections 13-17

Reading Check

1. Greenwood has been burned to the ground. (Part 2, Section 13)

2. Before Clete dies, he tells Will that his mother heard Kathryn talking about taking the Goodhopes to her new home and that Clete told Vernon. (Part 2, Section 15)

3. A Dictaphone describing the crime that happened on Ruby’s property (Part 2, Section 14)

4. Vernon Fish was murdered by Will. (Part 2, Section 15)

5. To help her mother convince the DA to press charges on the road rage incident as a hate crime (Part 2, Section 16)

Short Answer

1. Ruby likely wants to memorialize and thank Kathryn for her kindness in helping Ruby and her brother find safety on the night of the massacre. (Part 2, Section 17)

2. Opal probably wants Rowan to understand that although she does not condone murder, the message on the Dictaphone indicates the desperation of the people involved in the riots and the various motives and complications of race issues at the time. It also echoes what Isis told Ruby about race issues being complicated. (Various sections)