82 pages • 2 hours read
Kristin LevineThe Lions Of Little Rock
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Entrenched Racism
The Lions of Little Rock is set in 1958, which is a critical period in the town’s history relative to the issue of racism. A year earlier, nine black students attended white high schools in town, generating enormous controversy over the issue of segregation. 1958 was no less critical because it represented the beginning of the end of the status quo.
Racism in the South had been an entrenched practice for centuries, so much so that no one paid much attention to it. Both whites and blacks accepted the current state of affairs. The events of 1957 challenged that cultural inertia and required people on both sides of the controversy to consciously think about the color line separating some residents of Little Rock from others.
The novel uses the plot device of the friendship between Marlee and Liz to examine prevailing attitudes about racial mixing. Initially, Marlee is oblivious to the presence of people of color in Little Rock. Her first real exposure to them comes in the form of Betty Jean, the family’s new maid. When Liz is outed as Negro, her fellow students express horror. Sally says she threw out a hairbrush that Liz had used because Sally now believes it might contain lice. Over the course of the book, JT’s attitude changes from the racism preached by his family to his own belief that students of color shouldn’t be harmed. Little Jimmy says he approves of Marlee’s friendship with Liz.
Because racism is so tacitly woven into the fabric of Little Rock society, its undoing sends a ripple through all parts of the community. While the Nisbetts try to fight segregation, the Daltons support it by intimidating residents of color. Pastor George and his people join ranks to support white efforts to overturn the governor’s attempts to block progress.
Learning to Speak Out
Marlee represents the best example in the novel of the struggle to speak out. At the beginning of the story, she is pathologically shy. She fears ridicule and self-censors her own potential speech. With Liz’s help, Marlee eventually learns to talk to the animals at the zoo because they won’t judge anything coming out of her mouth. She then learns to speak in front of her classmates. These steps forward eventually lead her to confront much harder issues. She communicates with her mother on a meaningful level for the first time in years. She tells JT that she won’t do his homework for him. Most importantly of all, she refuses to stop being Liz’s friend, even after receiving threatening phone calls.
Although Marlee initially suppressed her own speech, other members of her family and community are also suppressing theirs. Her mother initially fears to support integration for fear of what the neighbors might think. Mrs. Dalton is afraid to take a stand against racism because her husband might beat her. Liz is afraid to speak her mind to anyone for fear of reprisal and ends up writing her thoughts in a journal. Little Jimmy uses the same tactic for the same reason. The entire community of color is afraid to speak up for fear of backlash.
Those who oppose integration are fully aware of the value of fear as a means of suppressing speech and preventing change. Marlee receives warning phone calls, as does her father. The WEC receives threatening letters. Red bullies his brother and Marlee and eventually resorts to dynamite to destroy the hope that things might change for the better. When the newly-integrated schools open in the fall of 1959, segregationist protesters try to shout down change until the firemen turn hoses on them. Mr. Nisbett weeps at the sight because the voices of hate are finally being drowned out for the first time.
Transformative Relationships
At the end of the novel, Liz questions whether she and Marlee can still be friends even when they don’t see each other. Marlee responds by saying, “I think a friend is someone who helps you change for the better. And whether you see them once a day or once a year, if it’s a true friend, it doesn’t matter” (289).
There’s no question that Liz has had a transformative effect on Marlee, but the reverse is equally true. Marlee convinces Liz to catch crawdads, which she fears to do. As a colored girl, Liz has very little hope that her opportunities in life can be the same as white people. Marlee teaches her that constructive change is possible. Liz helps the WEC and STOP efforts to open integrated schools in Little Rock. Although Liz becomes frightened by the dynamite explosion, Marlee refuses to give up on the friendship and finds a way to remove Red as a threat to their community.
Several other of Marlee’s relationships prove to be equally transformative. Even though JT starts out as a thoughtless user, he develops a sincere desire to do the right thing because of Marlee’s courage in standing up to Red. After Marlee confronts her mother, and the two begin to communicate, Mrs. Nisbett takes a stand before the entire PTA in favor of integration.
Marlee’s relationship with Betty Jean motivates her to help people of color achieve equal opportunities. Betty Jean, in turn, becomes hopeful about the possibility of change because of the efforts the Nisbetts make with their committee work. Pastor George mobilizes his community because of his initial contact with Liz and Marlee. Opening the door to friendship and communication has a ripple effect that can change lives and communities for the better.
