# Chapter XX explained — Cimarron

> Chapter companion for Cimarron by Edna Ferber.

## What happens

Sabra confronts Yancey about the newspaper's sign, asserting his ownership. Donna returns from school with a cynical, calculating attitude, declaring her intention to marry the richest man in Oklahoma. Yancey returns during the oil boom, shabby but dramatic, while Sabra reflects on her family's dynamics and the town's growth.

## Themes in this chapter

### Gender Roles and Women's Agency

Sabra runs the newspaper while Yancey is absent, but struggles with her daughter's rejection of traditional feminine roles and her own authority.

### Transformation and Progress

The oil boom symbolizes rapid change and growth in Osage, contrasting with Yancey's static, romanticized past.

### Family and Marriage

Donna's cynical view of her parents' marriage and her own mercenary plans highlight generational conflict and shifting family dynamics.

## Character check-ins

### Sabra Cravat

Confronts Yancey about the newspaper sign, defends Yancey to Donna, and manages the paper.

### Yancey Cravat

Returns dramatically during the oil boom, shabby and worn, asserting his ownership of the Wigwam.

### Donna Cravat

Returns from school with a cynical, calculating demeanor, plans to marry Tracy Wyatt for wealth.

### Sol Levy

Advises Sabra to focus on the newspaper, predicting Osage's growth and prosperity.

### Felice Venable

Mentioned as Donna's grandmother, critical of Yancey and approving of Donna's pragmatism.

## Key lines

> When you take that down, Sabra honey, and paint your own name up in my place, you’ll be the editor of this newspaper. Until you do that, I am.

Yancey tells Sabra that she will only truly be the editor when she replaces his name on the sign with her own.

_Highlights the power struggle over the newspaper's ownership and Sabra's deference to Yancey._

> I want to marry the richest man in Oklahoma, and build a palace that I’ll hardly ever live in, and travel like royalty, and clank with emeralds.

Donna declares her ambition to marry for wealth and luxury, not love.

_Reveals Donna's materialistic and calculating nature, contrasting with her mother's values._

> You settle down to running your paper, Sabra, and you won’t need any oil wells. You can have the best-paying paper and the most powerful in the Southwest.

Sol Levy advises Sabra to focus on her newspaper, which he believes will become more valuable than oil.

_Emphasizes the potential of the newspaper as a source of power and wealth._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/cimarron_se/chapters/xx
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/cimarron_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/cimarron_se/chapters