63 pages 2 hours read

Jodi Picoult

Small Great Things

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

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. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Themes

Visibility Versus Invisibility

Many aspects of the novel hinge on what can be seen and what cannot be seen. The most obvious form of this comes from the novel’s examination of racism in America. The most visible version of this comes in the form of Turk Bauer, an avowed and open white supremacist. However, all throughout the novel, Ruth Jefferson faces a number of implicitly-racist actions, such as micro-aggressions and people making assumptions about her.

Within these there are further gradations. Turk Bauer and Francis Mitchum have worked hard over the past several years to move the white supremacist community underground, so that they are less visible, and thus will be more accepted, banking on the desire within the country as a whole to avoid the topic of race and instead assume that nothing is wrong. However, in the face of his son’s death, Turk is devastated, and he and Brit both feel the need to no longer have their identities remain hidden. Turk first reveals a Confederate Flag tattoo when trying to get Ruth off of Davis’s case, but then, after Davis’s death, he shaves his head, revealing a swastika tattoo, making what had been partially visible truly front and center.

Related Titles

By Jodi Picoult

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Jodi Picoult, Samantha van Leer
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Jodi Picoult
Guide cover image