The Mighty Miss Malone

“Some poor people do live in the park. They sleep in huts and tents in the woods. We should give human beings first choice to see if they want this pie.”

Deza decides the woman who baked the excellent apple pie should not have to accept back a pie a dog touched. So that the pie does not go to waste, Deza thinks that giving it to a poor person in the park is best. This line is significant in its foreshadowing and in its display of relative wealth in Deza’s eyes: The Malones are far from wealthy, but she understands they have far more than the homeless who live in cardboard huts in the park.

“Deza, you’re a good girl. Next time, think things through.”

Dr. Bracy offers this advice to Deza when Deza takes a portion of the apple pie slice in a napkin, intending to give it to someone (her choice is not clear). Dr. Bracy tells Deza to give it to Clarice, whom Deza talked about as they chatted over pie, and not to Jimmie, as she is trying to teach Jimmie that thieves never win. The line is notable in that Deza hears the alliteration in Dr. Bracy’s words, noting it and reflecting that Dr. Bracy’s advanced degree makes her a highly capable thinker and speaker. If she catches Dr. Bracy’s subtle reprimand for taking the napkin and pie, she does not acknowledge it.

“I pressed my face into the gingham and found out how new smelled. I must have dreamed about this dress, it was so familiar.”

Deza reveals here that she has owned nothing new in so long that she forgets how it smells. This line is another notable clue to the Malones’ financial situation, along with the necessities Mrs. Needham gives to Deza like underwear and shoes.

“I gotta tell you, though, Ma was right, that getup was made for you. You’re one sharp bit of calico.”

This kind compliment comes from Jimmie to Deza after she tries on the new blue gingham dress and shoes from Mrs. Needham. The line further characterizes both Jimmie and Deza. Deza’s confidence and personality bloom more fully within the new clothes, as she walks and twirls through the house in her “getup” that gives her a hint of the young woman she might someday become. Readers see that Jimmie is a generous and devoted brother to Deza; he is genuinely happy that he was wrong about Mother’s reaction.

“The last time I checked, Deza, your birth certificate said ‘Malone’ and not ‘Rockefeller.’ We just can’t afford to throw any kind of food out, my dear.”

Mother tempers and generalizes her words after the bugs-in-the-oatmeal incident and peppers them with the customary Malone wit. The line suggests, however, the growing seriousness of their financial situation. Deza finds it shocking that they eat bug-infested food and swears to herself that her oatmeal days are done.

“You’ve got to pull yourself together.”

Mother tells this to Deza when she (Mother) returns with the news that Mr. Henderson’s truck was at the lake but there was no sign of Father or the men with whom he went fishing. The line is significant because Mrs. Needham told Deza the same thing when Deza’s emotions overflowed because of Mrs. Needham’s kindness. The juxtaposition between Deza’s feelings then and now demonstrates the quickening downward spiral of events in Deza’s life.

“Detha, I’ve mithed all of you tho much. You’re all that kept me alive.” 

Deza simply cannot believe that the bedraggled man whom Mother hugs on the front porch is Father—until he says this line. Father’s lisp is pronounced because the accident on Lake Michigan cut his face and knocked out several teeth. Her father’s words are evident of both his gratitude for seeing his family again and his narrow escape with death.

“Daddy beat Lake Michigan but now there’s something inside he’s still got to beat. He’s not done fighting yet.”

After Father’s first attempt to share the story of his Lake Michigan event fails, Jimmie tells Deza that it is as if Father has lockjaw—a kind of poison inside that can do him eventual harm. The line is foreboding; it suggests that the mood is still somber, despite Father’s lucky and miraculous homecoming.

“Fear will do that to you, it will make you think about only what’th important, and all that wath important to me wath to get back to my family.”

Father tells Jimmie more about what happened on the lake after some time passes. Deza initially overhears, then Father invites her to listen. Father’s personification of fear here foreshadows events in Deza’s journey to Flint—but his essential message affirms family unity, one of the novel’s themes.

“So you tell me, you tell me how can I come home empty-handed knowing that that sassy, smart, beautiful, charming little girl…my Mighty Miss Malone…is slowly rotting away on the inside and we can’t afford to have her teeth looked after, we can’t even get them pulled?”

Deza overhears Father’s entire rationale for leaving the family behind to find work in Flint. This line represents part of his overall reasons, which are based in pride, worry, hope, and fear. Most notably, Father equates the hope of work in Flint (and the return of better times for the family) to keeping Deza’s special spark alive. There is a clear comparison between this line and the words of Mrs. Needham in Chapter 2 when she tells Deza that “if we lose you, we’ve lost the country” (38).

“The woman bearing this letter has asked for a recommending letter and my heart is filled with joy to give her one.”

This line opens (supposedly) Mrs. Carsdale’s greatly revised letter to Mrs. Carsdale’s friend Marilyn in Flint. Deza suspected the original letter would not help Mother’s obtain a new job and is correct. The line is notable not only because Deza completely changes the tone and meaning of Mrs. Carsdale’s letter, but also because it represents Jimmie and Deza working together on a dishonest ruse for the sake of Mother’s success and pride.

“It’s that corny hand signal you and Clarice give each other about having one heart. And those are two holes where it use to be before it broke in two.”

Jimmie explains the drawing he makes at Clarice’s house when he and Deza go to say goodbye. Clarice is not there, and Deza is so upset she cannot write a message, so Jimmie steps up with a meaningful drawing that represents the friendship between Deza and Clarice. Like all Jimmie’s drawings, this one is awful, but Deza thinks it is perfect because of the message Jimmie conveys. His drawing and his words here show that he is both observant and full of empathy for Deza’s feelings.

“Any port in a storm.”

Mother must swallow her pride and worry when, faced with no options, she, Deza, and Jimmie accept a ride and accommodations arranged by Marvelous Marvin, a known “numbers man” who rips off poverty-stricken folks on the promise of making more money. The line shows Mother’s internal strength and resilience and reminds the reader how Deza first introduced Mother as the character who holds the family together.

“Just keep your head low. Don’t look weak or scared.”

Miss Carter, a woman employed by Marvelous Marvin’s girlfriend in Chicago, tells the Malones about riding the rails. When Mother decides it is the best way to get to Flint, Miss Carter accompanies them as far as Chicago. Here she gives Mother advice for traveling alone before getting to the homeless encampment. The line reflects a continuing theme of strength and resilience, reminiscent of other times Deza hears “You’ve got to pull yourself together.”

“The little boy I’d done dishes with stumbled past, looking more lost than he had before, squeezing a ratty old suitcase to his chest.”

Fans of Christopher Paul Curtis will recognize Bud from Bud, Not Buddy in scenes during Deza’s time in Flint’s Hooverville. Deza notices Bud’s suitcase, a notable symbol of his identity and journey to find his father; though the two do not discuss it in this novel, Bud and Deza share the hope for reunited families. Deza also mentions again how Bud looks lost; it is interesting to note this view of Bud from someone outside of his own narrative.

“I grabbed hold of the last thing Jimmie had said to me. ‘Wow, sis! Hasn’t this been the best night ever!’”

Deza is sad that Jimmie is leaving but demonstrates great growth in maturity as she also realizes she and Mother must let him go. Jimmie shows Deza that hope, dreams, and the goal of a successful future are still alive in him when he sings with Saw-Bone Zee and comments to her about this “best night.” Deza understands that sometimes in order to find fulfillment one must make sacrifices; Jimmie must give up Mother and Deza in order to pursue a chance at success.

“Will they throw something this beautiful into the fire?”

Deza and Mother must run from Flint’s homeless encampment when police raid and destroy the community’s makeshift huts and shelters. Deza refers here to the blue gingham curtains on the hut in which the Malones resided, which reminded her of the lost dress from Mrs. Needham. The line represents a deeper pain in Deza as she witnesses the destruction of the tight community. Later, Mother returns on a fib about fetching her wedding ring to get the curtains; months later, she reveals a jumper she made from the curtains for Deza’s 13th birthday.

“The book grabbed me and shook me like a soon-to-die rat in a terrier’s jaws! It was about black people and they had real problems and thoughts and did real things, not like the black people in so many other books.”

Deza is shocked and elated to realize that books exist with realistic, respectful depictions of Black characters. The book she refers to here is W. E. B. DuBois’s The Quest of the Silver Fleece, which she then rereads four times. Her reaction is especially notable as her literature class at Whittier Junior High is not remotely fulfilling to her; the white teacher chooses reading selections that are low-caliber and not inclusive.

“I had never seen this much money in my life!”

Deza finally receives a letter that says it is from Father at the post office. She tears into it “Flint-style,” the Malone reference for ripping into a gift quickly and without regard for the wrapping. The irony is that she might have ripped right through the cash inside, which both she and Mrs. James are shocked to see. The money is life-changing to Deza, not just for its literal value but because it represents a turning point for her; she thinks Father has made good on his promise and that better times are certainly ahead.

“For the second time that night my head started spinning. But this time it had good reason!”

Deza gets her first look at a real speakeasy with this line of interior monologue. Her choice of words is notable in that the sight of smoking, drinking, “scandalously”-clad women, and people enjoying themselves is very new to her. Her hope of finding Jimmie is momentarily sidetracked. From a characterization standpoint, though Deza is making leaps and bounds in maturing with her choice to seek Jimmie on her own, this line reminds readers that she is still a relatively unworldly 13-year-old.

“Fellas, hold on, that’s my sister.”

Jimmie calmly and authoritatively takes command in this line, preventing the bouncers from ejecting Deza from the New Turned Leaf nightclub. The line foreshadows what Deza will soon learn about her brother: others’ respect for him, his new lifestyle as an entertainer, his new sense of calm control. In a role reversal from the scene in which Deza saves Jimmie from Dolly Peaches, Jimmie is in a better place to care for Deza now that he is working and successful.

“That’s why Pa left, he wasn’t looking for no job, he was running away, he was looking for somewhere to run off and finish. Finish dying.”

Jimmie tells Deza the truth of what happened to Father on Lake Michigan and follows up the tragic details with this line, explaining why Father really left them behind. The line is a follow-up to Jimmie’s idea that a figurative poison worked like lockjaw inside Father. The line also indirectly characterizes Jimmie’s hard view of the circumstances surrounding Father’s departure and his own consequent obligation to seek gainful employment.

“My hand is still injured and I am still traveling and working. I have sent some extra for your move. I will still send money. Take care of each other. Love, Father.”

These lines are in the letter, supposedly from Father, that includes the keys to a new rental in Gary for Deza and Mother. Deza still believes that the letters that arrive every two weeks are from Father, though there are subtle clues that might suggest otherwise; the sentences are short, the words lack alliteration, there is little about his work or observations.