logo

35 pages 1 hour read

Tracy Kidder

Strength in What Remains

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2000

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.

Themes

The Journey

The theme of journeying is prevalent on multiple levels in this narrative. Deo undertakes a physical journey from Burundi to New York City, but he also endures a figurative journey of self-exploration and perseverance, as well. The physical journey begins with the challenging but inevitable decision to leave his home. He is subject to unspeakable trauma as he struggles to stay alive, but eventually makes his way to New York.

The journey in America is fraught with different types of hardships. Deo quickly finds a job, but the pay is abysmal, and his boss is cruel and abusive. In simply striving to live, Deo’s voyage takes him all around New York city—by foot and on the subway; eventually, he lands at the Wolfs’ where he begins his venture into higher education. This will be his ultimate saving grace, but before he can achieve success in school, he must concede to his ignorance of the English language and be open to learning even the most basic skills. This is a humbling experience for someone who was an advanced medical student in his own nation, but Deo’s humility and willingness to better his own circumstances shines; thus, this part of the journey is a triumph.

Deo’s spiritual and psychic journey also resounds throughout the text. Although he experiences horror in witnessing the genocide of his people, his innate character remains steadfast. He never loses the desire to help others who need it; he is not hardened by the trials and tribulations of war, poverty, or death.

Noting that the first section of the book is “Flights,” the journeying theme is evident even the structure of Strength in What Remains. Kidder takes the reader from the present into the past and back, time and again. Once Kidder and Deo meet, they journey together to Africa where Kidder asks Deo to permit him entrance to his personal journey of self-reclamation. Kidder is the journey’s guide, walking the reader through Deo’s story and asking the reader to consider how living through horrific life events can make or break a person. 

The Kindness of Strangers

Several times throughout the course of this narrative, Deo is only able to persist due to the unspeakable kindness of strangers. During his initial retreat from Mutaho, he encounters an older woman who pretends to be his mother and helps Deo to get past the pro-Hutu Rwandan border guards.

Once he makes it to New York City, he is alone and afraid and thankfully, more strangers step in to assist his journey at the most opportune moments. A French-speaking Senegalese immigration agent named Muhammad first helps Deo get his bearings in the city, and lets Deo stay on the floor of an abandoned building where he also sleeps. Muhammad also helps Deo get his grocery delivery job, which enables him to meet Sharon.

Sharon McKenna—initially a stranger—takes Deo under her wing and although she can make off-color comments in learning about who he is, it is undeniable that her good heart guides her actions. Not only does she enable Deo to be able to see a doctor for free, she introduces him to the Wolfs, who become something of a surrogate family to Deo for many years. Here, again, the Wolfs are strangers who accept immigrant Deo into their home and their lives without compunction.

This theme resonates with Deo’s unshakable human spirit. One might wonder if he were any less of a genuinely kind and honest person, whether the help he receives would abound in the same manner. This speaks to the importance of remaining true to one’s self and always striving for betterment. 

Violence vs. Compassion

The entirety of Deo’s life has been riddled with both violence and compassion; this is one of the many reasons his life is so fascinating to examine. Also due to this, Tracy Kidder focused an entire narrative on his story. Deo lives to see many of his family members, friends, and loved ones slaughtered in a genocide of people who were ill-equipped to fight back against their oppressors. He is Burundi, and his people adhere to gusimbura, meaning they do not bring up the past for fear of reoffending the people who lived through the terror of it. In Deo’s journey, he leaves his African home and reestablishes himself in America, but eventually, he cannot escape the horrors of his past. He returns to Africa with Kidder and must confront instances of violence that occurred both to his family and to the people of his homeland.

Even in America, Deo experiences violence on a different scale: His boss at the grocery store is violent and aggressive to his workers. He is starving and homeless. Yet alongside all of the violence and strife, Deo repeatedly meets people who treat him with compassion. It is through these myriad kind figures in his life that he offers compassion to himself, and eventually opens a clinic in Burundi to continue spreading the love he has been shown to those in need of compassion. No matter what hardships come Deo’s way, he never loses his own compassion.

The juxtaposition of these seemingly opposing concepts is evident in nearly every chapter of Kidder’s book. Even the act of writing the book and sharing Deo’s life story demonstrates compassion and is indicative of what humans are capable of offering to one another. 

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text