Distrust of Authority

Richardson uses the theme of distrust of authority to show how the people of rural Kentucky are taken advantage of, and how they are vulnerable in their poverty and lack of contact with the outside world. This theme also gives more context to the location and characters - especially of poor, rural, non-white folks and workers in eastern Kentucky. Richardson also uses this theme to prove the arbitrary and complex nature of authority, but ultimately the meaninglessness of it. She proves this distrust through the power of the employer, the power of the medical establishment, and the power of the government. And the antidote to this distrust is simply a request for survival and basic dignity.

First, Richardson proves the distrust of authority through the employer, and again the answer to the distrust is simply a request for survival and basic dignity, as exemplified...