Out of the Easy

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-11

Chapters 12-23

Chapters 24-37

Chapters 38-49

Chapters 50-59

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Hearne’s Gold Watch

Forrest Hearne’s gold watch is a symbol of Josie’s dream to be respectable and successful. Although she initially takes it because she finds it hidden in her mother’s room and is unsure what she should do with it, she struggles to part with it because of its significance to her. Possessing Hearne’s watch makes Josie think of Hearne and her interaction with him. To Josie, Hearne is not only rich and handsome, but he is also kind and respectful toward her. Josie is used to being disrespected by those in the Quarter, especially men, and his assumption that she is a college student makes a positive impact on her. She feels a sense of kinship with him because he loves David Copperfield and has also come from humble beginnings. This inspires Josie to believe in her own future. As she sits with Willie’s body after her death, she tells her that “He gave me hope. The dream is still alive in the watch” (326).

Josie admits that she cannot bring herself to dispose of it and keeps it secret from everyone that she has it. She feels she must keep the watch secret since it will implicate her in Hearne’s death, but her inability to throw it away shows that she wants to maintain a connection to the man she believes Hearne is. Josie’s belief that Hearne could be her father, whether realistic or not, also illustrates how the watch allows her to feel a closeness to a father she has never known, and as such, feel an increased self-worth. Conversely, having the watch fills Josie with stress, and she often hears its ticking “puls[ing] through [her] head” (128). Because she found it under her mother’s bed, Josie believes her mother is culpable in Hearne’s death. If true, it proves that she is the daughter of a disreputable woman. If caught with the watch, Josie’s dreams of a successful life may be shattered. Hence, having the watch creates a tension in Josie, and she ultimately buries it at Shady Grove. By the end of the novel, Josie mails the watch back to Hearne’s widow, demonstrating that she has grown and no longer needs the watch to feel self-empowered.

Books

The author uses books, in particular David Copperfield, as a motif for the theme that we create our own destiny. Marlowe’s Bookshop is Josie’s safe place and home, literally and figuratively. She began sleeping there as a child to escape her mother, so Charlie Marlowe allowed her to move in upstairs. He and Patrick essentially adopted her into their family. Reading books is how Josie escapes from her life and forms ideas about what she wants. Josie reads frequently throughout the novel, using books as a refuge. Books give her comfort and let her see that there are other ways to live life. As such, she can temporarily escape from New Orleans while she reads.

The book David Copperfield by Charles Dickens is of particular importance in the novel. Josie and Hearne share an affection for the novel and recite the opening line together. Josie later thinks about the line when her mom is leaving to return to Hollywood: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show” (265). This quote reflects Josie’s own mentality as she fights against her background and ongoing conflicts to “be the hero of” her life, that is, be the one who saves herself and decides what happens. She is criticized by others, especially her mom and Willie, for acting like she can live out a fairy tale. Hearne’s admission that he had “a Copperfield childhood” (23) shows Josie that deciding one’s own destiny is not just for novels, but can be done in real life, too.

Photographs

Photographs act as a motif in the novel, demonstrating the theme of class and society. When Josie goes to the party at the Lockwell house, she notices the photographs on display in silver frames. Josie observes that rich families use photographs as another way to show their wealth, both literally with the silver frames, and figuratively with the value of their “perfect” families. Josie has not seen Willie or her mother display photos and feels that it must mean that the Lockwells are happier than they are. Her argument against Patrick and Cokie’s idea that rich people are “soul broke” is simply that “[t]hey had family photographs in nice frames” (84). Josie believes in the image that the Lockwells want others to see: a happy and perfect family. This, of course, turns out not to be true since Mr. Lockwell is a cheating husband.

Josie finds photographs from Willie’s childhood when she cleans Willie’s room at Shady Grove. Willie, who relies on her reputation as a stern madam, does not want others to know about her past or to see her as “a sweet child” (237). Revealing that part of herself could be damaging to the image she has created of herself, so she keeps it hidden. Mr. Lockwell, on the other hand, uses family photos to bolster his self-image. Happy photos create the illusion that his family is perfect, and the silver frames show that the photos are worth spending money on to take and display. Josie, meanwhile, has no photos of herself because “Mother never had [her] picture made” (237). To Josie, this is proof that her mother does not value her or take pride in her daughter.