Search Jump: Comments
    Chapter Index
    Back to Story

    Small Great Things

    by

    Picoult, Jodi

    Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things (2016) explores themes of race, privilege, and justice through the story of Ruth Jefferson, an African American labor and delivery nurse accused of causing the death of a white supremacist couple’s newborn. The novel alternates perspectives between Ruth, the infant’s father Turk Bauer, and Ruth’s public defender Kennedy McQuarrie, revealing systemic racism and personal biases. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote about doing “small things in a great way,” the narrative examines moral dilemmas and societal structures. The book has been praised for its thought-provoking examination of contemporary racial tensions and is being adapted into a film.

    PreviousNext
    Small Great Things

    Stage Two: Pushing — Turk 1

    by

    Picoult, Jodi

    The chap­ter opens with Turk, a griev­ing father, reflect­ing on his emo­tion­al state as he pre­pares for a court appear­ance relat­ed to his son’s death. He com­pares his hol­lowed-out feel­ing to a Native Amer­i­can canoe being burned and scraped raw, empha­siz­ing his exhaus­tion and empti­ness. Despite antic­i­pat­ing this day with venge­ful ener­gy, he now feels unex­pect­ed­ly drained, as if arriv­ing at a desert­ed bat­tle­field. His wife, Brit, appears dressed con­ser­v­a­tive­ly as advised by the pros­e­cu­tor, while Turk defi­ant­ly rejects sug­ges­tions to soft­en his appear­ance, deter­mined to hon­or his son through ret­ri­bu­tion.

    Turk’s inter­nal tur­moil man­i­fests phys­i­cal­ly as he shaves his head, acci­den­tal­ly nick­ing himself—a moment that becomes sym­bol­ic. The blood run­ning from his swasti­ka tat­too cap­ti­vates him, blend­ing vio­lence and iden­ti­ty. The cou­ple then vis­its their son Davis’s grave, where Turk reveals he altered the head­stone inscrip­tion from “LOVED” to “LOVE,” assert­ing his ongo­ing devo­tion. The stark, frosty set­ting mir­rors their grief, with Brit trac­ing their son’s name as Turk reflects on car­ry­ing his mem­o­ry through his tat­tooed knuck­les.

    Arriv­ing at the cour­t­house, Turk encoun­ters a protest led by a Black rev­erend dis­cussing his­tor­i­cal racial injus­tices. Turk’s racist per­spec­tive is laid bare as he dis­miss­es the ral­ly with con­tempt, draw­ing a par­al­lel to the Alamo. His hos­til­i­ty is momen­tar­i­ly inter­rupt­ed when a group of white suprema­cists, includ­ing online acquain­tances like Odin45 and Whit­eDev­il, ral­ly around him. The diverse but uni­fied group sig­nals a dis­turb­ing sol­i­dar­i­ty root­ed in shared extrem­ist ide­olo­gies.

    The chap­ter con­cludes with Turk find­ing unex­pect­ed sup­port from this gath­er­ing of white suprema­cists, who form a pro­tec­tive cir­cle around him and Brit. Their pres­ence con­trasts sharply with the Black pro­test­ers, height­en­ing the ten­sion. Turk’s nar­ra­tive under­scores his fix­a­tion on vengeance, racial ani­mos­i­ty, and the twist­ed com­fort he derives from this com­mu­ni­ty, fram­ing the upcom­ing tri­al as a bat­tle­ground for his warped sense of jus­tice and iden­ti­ty.

    Down­load PDF Sum­ma­ry

    FAQs

    • 1. How does Turk use the imagery of the Native American canoe-making process to describe his emotional state?

      Answer:
      Turk compares himself to a tree being hollowed out by fire and scraping, feeling “rubbed raw from the inside” and empty. This vivid metaphor illustrates his profound grief and exhaustion after his son’s death, despite his earlier anticipation of feeling energized for justice. The imagery reflects how prolonged trauma has eroded his emotional resilience, leaving him hollow—a stark contrast to the warrior-like determination he expected to feel (Chapter excerpt, page 329).

      2. Analyze the significance of Turk altering Davis’s gravestone inscription from “LOVED” to “LOVE.”

      Answer:
      Turk changes the inscription to present-tense “LOVE” without telling Brit, claiming it was the carver’s mistake. This reveals his refusal to accept his son’s love as part of the past, symbolizing his inability to move forward. The word also mirrors his knuckle tattoo, showing how he carries Davis’s memory physically and emotionally. The act demonstrates Turk’s controlling nature and his distortion of grief into perpetual anger (Page 331).

      3. How does the courthouse scene with Wallace’s speech and the white supremacist supporters highlight the chapter’s racial tensions?

      Answer:
      Wallace’s speech about Bacon’s Rebellion underscores systemic racial divides, while Turk’s reaction (“Damn straight”) reveals his white supremacist ideology. The arrival of Odin45 and other Lonewolf.org members mirrors historical racial confrontations, framing the trial as a battleground. The juxtaposition of Wallace’s multiracial crowd with Turk’s white allies intensifies the chapter’s tension, illustrating how grief becomes weaponized for ideological conflict (Pages 331–332).

      4. What contradictions exist in Turk’s behavior toward Brit, and what do they reveal about his character?

      Answer:
      Turk alternates between protective gestures (shielding Brit from wind) and dismissiveness (ignoring her gravestone wishes). While he kneels to comfort her, he also lies about the inscription and resents the prosecutor’s dress code demands. These contradictions expose his performative masculinity—he views Brit as both a vulnerable ally and an extension of his agenda, prioritizing his own grief narrative over her autonomy (Pages 330–331).

      5. How does the blood from Turk’s shaving cut symbolize his ideological identity?

      Answer:
      The blood streaking from his swastika tattoo creates a “red flag” image, merging violence with white supremacist symbolism. This moment captivates Turk, reflecting his belief in struggle as intrinsic to his identity. The blood also foreshadows the courthouse confrontation, positioning him as a martyr figure in his imagined racial war. The imagery underscores how he romanticizes pain as proof of commitment to his cause (Page 330).

    Quotes

    • 1. “That’s what I feel like, today. Like someone has rubbed me raw from the inside, until I’m empty.”

      This visceral metaphor captures Turk’s profound grief and emotional exhaustion as he prepares for his son’s memorial. It reflects the chapter’s recurring theme of hollowed-out pain and sets the tone for his conflicted state of mind.

      2. “As far as I’m concerned, this is the memorial my son deserves: if I cannot have him back, I will make sure the people responsible for it are punished, and that others like them are left trembling with fear.”

      A pivotal statement revealing Turk’s motivation for attending court - transforming personal loss into a crusade for vengeance. This quote exemplifies his extremist mindset and foreshadows the confrontation to come.

      3. “Brit had wanted it to say LOVED. Those were the directions she gave me for the granite carver. But at the last minute I changed it. I was never going to stop, so why make it past tense?”

      This subtle act of defiance against Brit’s wishes demonstrates Turk’s obsessive grief and refusal to let go. The present-tense “LOVE” becomes both a memorial and a battle cry, tying to his knuckle tattoos.

      4. “History is told by Americans of Anglo descent.”

      Through the Reverend’s speech, this quote encapsulates the racial tensions central to the chapter. It highlights the competing historical narratives that fuel both the protestors’ activism and Turk’s white supremacist ideology.

      5. “A steady stream closes ranks around me—people”

      The truncated final sentence (intentionally left incomplete here as in the original) powerfully conveys Turk’s radicalization process as white supremacists surround him. This moment represents a turning point where personal grief becomes collective racial animosity.

    Quotes

    1. “That’s what I feel like, today. Like someone has rubbed me raw from the inside, until I’m empty.”

    This visceral metaphor captures Turk’s profound grief and emotional exhaustion as he prepares for his son’s memorial. It reflects the chapter’s recurring theme of hollowed-out pain and sets the tone for his conflicted state of mind.

    2. “As far as I’m concerned, this is the memorial my son deserves: if I cannot have him back, I will make sure the people responsible for it are punished, and that others like them are left trembling with fear.”

    A pivotal statement revealing Turk’s motivation for attending court - transforming personal loss into a crusade for vengeance. This quote exemplifies his extremist mindset and foreshadows the confrontation to come.

    3. “Brit had wanted it to say LOVED. Those were the directions she gave me for the granite carver. But at the last minute I changed it. I was never going to stop, so why make it past tense?”

    This subtle act of defiance against Brit’s wishes demonstrates Turk’s obsessive grief and refusal to let go. The present-tense “LOVE” becomes both a memorial and a battle cry, tying to his knuckle tattoos.

    4. “History is told by Americans of Anglo descent.”

    Through the Reverend’s speech, this quote encapsulates the racial tensions central to the chapter. It highlights the competing historical narratives that fuel both the protestors’ activism and Turk’s white supremacist ideology.

    5. “A steady stream closes ranks around me—people”

    The truncated final sentence (intentionally left incomplete here as in the original) powerfully conveys Turk’s radicalization process as white supremacists surround him. This moment represents a turning point where personal grief becomes collective racial animosity.

    FAQs

    1. How does Turk use the imagery of the Native American canoe-making process to describe his emotional state?

    Answer:
    Turk compares himself to a tree being hollowed out by fire and scraping, feeling “rubbed raw from the inside” and empty. This vivid metaphor illustrates his profound grief and exhaustion after his son’s death, despite his earlier anticipation of feeling energized for justice. The imagery reflects how prolonged trauma has eroded his emotional resilience, leaving him hollow—a stark contrast to the warrior-like determination he expected to feel (Chapter excerpt, page 329).

    2. Analyze the significance of Turk altering Davis’s gravestone inscription from “LOVED” to “LOVE.”

    Answer:
    Turk changes the inscription to present-tense “LOVE” without telling Brit, claiming it was the carver’s mistake. This reveals his refusal to accept his son’s love as part of the past, symbolizing his inability to move forward. The word also mirrors his knuckle tattoo, showing how he carries Davis’s memory physically and emotionally. The act demonstrates Turk’s controlling nature and his distortion of grief into perpetual anger (Page 331).

    3. How does the courthouse scene with Wallace’s speech and the white supremacist supporters highlight the chapter’s racial tensions?

    Answer:
    Wallace’s speech about Bacon’s Rebellion underscores systemic racial divides, while Turk’s reaction (“Damn straight”) reveals his white supremacist ideology. The arrival of Odin45 and other Lonewolf.org members mirrors historical racial confrontations, framing the trial as a battleground. The juxtaposition of Wallace’s multiracial crowd with Turk’s white allies intensifies the chapter’s tension, illustrating how grief becomes weaponized for ideological conflict (Pages 331–332).

    4. What contradictions exist in Turk’s behavior toward Brit, and what do they reveal about his character?

    Answer:
    Turk alternates between protective gestures (shielding Brit from wind) and dismissiveness (ignoring her gravestone wishes). While he kneels to comfort her, he also lies about the inscription and resents the prosecutor’s dress code demands. These contradictions expose his performative masculinity—he views Brit as both a vulnerable ally and an extension of his agenda, prioritizing his own grief narrative over her autonomy (Pages 330–331).

    5. How does the blood from Turk’s shaving cut symbolize his ideological identity?

    Answer:
    The blood streaking from his swastika tattoo creates a “red flag” image, merging violence with white supremacist symbolism. This moment captivates Turk, reflecting his belief in struggle as intrinsic to his identity. The blood also foreshadows the courthouse confrontation, positioning him as a martyr figure in his imagined racial war. The imagery underscores how he romanticizes pain as proof of commitment to his cause (Page 330).

    Note