Out of the Dust

Although Ma is alive only partway through the book, she is always present. Not a day goes by that Billie Jo doesn't think of her. In fact, the readers know Ma better after she is dead. What we know about her before her death is that she is strict with Billie Jo and at the same time wants to encourage her talent. Still, Ma seems to know that sometimes dreams and talent don't do anything for you. Billie Jo says after Ma dies that she thinks Ma had dreams once, and that she wasn't cut out to be a farmer's wife, but that she changed herself to satisfy her husband.