The Giver of Stars
Chapter 5: Five
by Moyes, JojoThe chapter opens with a vivid description of the mining communities in Lee County, likening them to feudal villages with their isolated, company-controlled structures. Amid this setting, the makeshift library run by Margery and her team struggles to keep up with the overwhelming demand for books. The “book ladies” have gained popularity, with residents eagerly requesting everything from magazines to classic literature. However, the lack of organization and the wear-and-tear on materials have left the library in disarray, prompting Margery to consider finding a full-time caretaker to manage the growing chaos.
The librarians debate who should take on the role of organizing the library, with each woman resisting the responsibility. Izzy, despite her physical limitations, has proven herself a capable rider and is reluctant to give up her routes. Beth, though practical, refuses to clean up after others, while Alice is equally unwilling. Margery realizes the need for someone skilled in book repair and scrapbooking, a task none of them excel at. Frustrated but determined, Margery abruptly leaves for Hoffman, hinting at a potential solution, though her companions are left puzzled by her sudden departure.
Hoffman Mining Company is depicted as a grim, oppressive environment, where the landscape is scarred by industrial exploitation and the workers live under constant threat of injury or death. The company’s control extends to every aspect of life, from debt-ridden workers to the ever-present danger of union-busting violence. Margery’s arrival at Hoffman is met with familiarity, as she seeks out Sven Gustavsson, a figure whose presence stirs unease in her. The stark contrast between the well-maintained homes of the mine bosses and the squalid shacks of the miners underscores the deep inequalities of the system.
Margery’s journey through Hoffman highlights her resilience and her connection to the mining community, despite its harsh realities. Her purpose for visiting remains unclear, but her determination suggests she is pursuing a solution to the library’s challenges. The chapter ends on a suspenseful note, with Margery spotting Sven, leaving readers to wonder what role he might play in her plans. The narrative weaves together themes of community, resourcefulness, and the struggle for dignity in an unforgiving world.
FAQs
1. How has the community’s attitude toward the “book ladies” changed since they began their library service, and what evidence supports this shift?
Answer:
The community’s attitude has transformed from initial suspicion to enthusiastic acceptance. The text states that within weeks, it became more common for the librarians to be greeted by “eager smiles” than to have doors “rapidly closed in their faces.” Families clamored for reading material, with books and magazines being “ripped from their hands almost as soon as they could pull it from their saddlebags.” The comic books’ popularity among children led to them being “thumbed to death,” and magazines were sometimes returned with favorite pages removed—all signs of heavy use and appreciation. This demonstrates a successful integration of the library service into community life.2. What logistical challenges does the library’s success create for Margery and her team, and what solution does Margery propose?
Answer:
The library’s popularity has led to organizational chaos, with books piled on the floor and librarians struggling to find requested titles amid the disarray. The books are deteriorating from heavy use, with bindings failing and pages becoming loose. Margery recognizes they need a full-time person to manage repairs (like sewing bindings) and create scrapbooks from loose pages—a technique successfully used at Hindman. When none of the current librarians volunteer (due to poor sewing skills or route commitments), Margery decides to seek help elsewhere, hinting she’s traveling to Hoffman Mining Company to find a solution, though the chapter doesn’t reveal whom she intends to recruit.3. Analyze the contrasting descriptions of Hoffman Mining Company and the librarians’ work. How does this juxtaposition highlight the novel’s themes?
Answer:
Hoffman is depicted as a dystopian industrial hellscape—with scarred hillsides, coal-dust air, and exploitative company practices—while the librarians’ work represents enlightenment and community building. The mine reduces men to blackened faces emerging from “the bowels” of the earth, trapped in debt and danger, whereas the library offers intellectual escape and family bonding (e.g., Jim Horner’s pride in his daughter’s reading). This juxtaposition underscores themes of oppression vs. liberation, capitalism’s dehumanization vs. education’s empowerment, and environmental destruction vs. cultural preservation. Margery’s observation that some men see “dollar signs” instead of nature’s beauty directly critiques the mining mentality.4. What does Izzy Brady’s character development reveal about overcoming physical limitations and societal expectations?
Answer:
Despite her initial struggles (implied by her “weaker leg”), Izzy has become a “competent horsewoman” through determination, using adaptive tools like a stick for walking and warding off threats. Her polished boots symbolically mask her difference, and her routes are now respected by families who are “a little in awe” of her. She confidently rejects Beth’s suggestion that she stay behind, asserting her value to the community. This arc challenges stereotypes about disability, showing how skill and perseverance can redefine others’ perceptions. Her trump card—threatening Beth with her fussing mother—also reveals her growing assertiveness and wit.5. How does the chapter use historical context (like the Coal Commission quote and union-busting references) to deepen the story’s realism?
Answer:
The 1923 Coal Commission epigraph frames the mining camps as feudal systems, echoed in Hoffman’s company-town structure where workers trade autonomy for “a roof over your head.” The union-busting references (mobs, guns, and “families in mourning”) anchor the narrative in real labor struggles of the era, explaining the “air of mistrust” Margery encounters. These details ground the librarians’ work in a broader socioeconomic landscape, emphasizing how literacy and community solidarity (like the scrapbook idea from Hindman) counter industrial exploitation. The historical layers enrich the conflict, showing why Margery’s mission matters beyond mere book delivery.
Quotes
1. “These groups of villages dot the mountain sides down the river valleys and need only castles, draw-bridges, and donjon-keeps to reproduce to the physical eye a view of feudal days.”
This opening quote from the United States Coal Commission sets the tone for the chapter, drawing a striking parallel between the isolated mining communities and medieval feudal systems—a theme that resonates throughout the depiction of Hoffman Mining Company’s control over workers’ lives.
2. “Families clamored for reading material… Everything from Charles Dickens to the Dime Mystery Magazine was ripped from their hands almost as soon as they could pull it from their saddlebags.”
This vivid description captures the transformative impact of the traveling library service, showing how literature became a lifeline for the isolated communities and highlighting the hunger for knowledge that defied initial skepticism.
3. “Hoffman was a vision of Hell, its pits eating into the scarred and hollowed-out hillsides around Baileyville, like giant welts, its men, their eyes glowing white out of blackened faces, emerging from its bowels.”
Margery’s visceral description of the mining town underscores the brutal reality of industrial exploitation, contrasting sharply with the hopeful book delivery scenes and foreshadowing the social tensions surrounding labor conditions.
4. “The price of a wage and a roof over your head was a creeping debt to the company store, and the never-ending fear of a misjudged measurement of dynamite, a lost limb from a runaway trolley, or worse…”
This concise explanation of the mining company’s oppressive system reveals the economic and physical traps binding workers, providing crucial context for understanding the community’s struggles beyond their literary hunger.
5. “A certain kind of man looked at God’s own land, she thought, as she drew closer, and instead of beauty and wonder, all he saw was dollar signs.”
Margery’s bitter observation crystallizes the central conflict between preservation and exploitation, reflecting both on the environmental destruction and the human cost of unchecked capitalism in Appalachia.