Hidden Figures Chapters Five–Seven Summary & Analysis

Chapters Five–Seven

Summary: Chapter Five: Manifest Destiny

The workspace Melvin Butler sets up for the Black women is in Langley’s West Area. Some of the women working there were featured in the newspaper article that inspired Dorothy. The Hampton Institute, where the women studied, continues to supply human computers to Langley. The Institute’s head, Malcolm MacLean, is determined that his Black graduates will contribute to the war effort. His hosting of racially mixed social events offends some whites. Langley’s director, Henry Reid, is more cautious, but Margery Hannah, the white head of West Computing, is openly progressive. Like MacLean, she treats Black men and women as equals and sometimes socializes with them.

The white women computers work in an East Area building. All workers eat lunch in the same cafeteria, but the Black women are assigned a separate table, with a sign: COLORED COMPUTERS. The white engineers that the women work with, especially the engineers from northern and western states, have a pragmatic attitude about working with the Black computers. Whatever the men’s views about social mixing, they value good work and maintain cordial relationships with the women. The Black computers find the working environment mostly pleasant. A woman named Miriam Mann, however, removes the insulting cafeteria sign. She continues removing replacement signs until they stop appearing. A small battle has been won.

Summary: Chapter Six: War Birds

In 1944, Black Americans take pride in the exploits of the Black aviators known as the Tuskegee airmen. Their plane, the P-51 Mustang, is praised for its reliability and its performance in aerial combat. The development research for the Mustang was done at Langley, but workers there are constantly reminded not to talk about their jobs in public or even at home. If the people in town regard some of Langley’s engineers as “weirdos,” that is fine, so long as the townspeople do not learn details of what the weirdos actually do.

Langley conducts both actual flight tests of aircraft prototypes, in “free air,” and wind tunnel tests of models, in “compressed air.” The Sixteen-Foot High Speed Tunnel looms above the buildings of the West Area. Dorothy and the other computers study engineering physics and aerodynamics, to understand the calculations they are performing. All of the testing, plus the purely theoretical work of the “no-air” engineers, goes toward designing new or improved fighter, cargo, and bomber aircraft. When B-29s bomb Japan, Henry Reid tells the lab’s employees, from the engineers down to the cleaning staff, that they all had a part in the mission. Dorothy is helping to make a difference in the war’s outcome.

Summary: Chapter Seven: The Duration

Newsome Park, like other developments built for workers needed in the war effort, is a pleasant place to live. Residents enjoy access to shops of all kinds, and home delivery of coal, milk, and other goods. In the summer of 1944, Dorothy signs a lease for an apartment near an elementary school and brings her children to live with her. She has had enough of long drives for occasional, too-short visits to see them. The arrangement will add to the growing emotional and physical separation between her and Howard.

In August of 1945, the war ends. Everywhere in America, the streets fill with people celebrating. Soon, however, reality sets in: with industry returning to peacetime production levels and soldiers returning home, many workers, especially women, will lose their jobs. Some women will be happy to return to domestic life, but others will not. The hard-won gains of Black workers are in danger of slipping away. There is also the possibility that developments like Newsome Park will be demolished. All of these uncertainties made Dorothy’s decision to commit to an apartment lease a risky wager. However, she is determined to settle in and make Newport News her home. She and Miriam Mann grow close, and their families spend a good deal of time together. Howard joins her when his work and travel allow it.

Analysis: Chapters Five–Seven

The cordial way that some of the engineers treat their Black female colleagues foreshadows the possibility that positive changes will come. While their approach may be born of the same pragmatism that led to the changes in hiring practices that brought the women to Langley, the engineers do recognize and respect the women’s contributions. The engineers’ efforts to make the work environment a less toxic one is a stark contrast to those who have obvious racist tendencies and continue to replace the offensive sign in the cafeteria. When the sign ultimately disappears for good, it is another harbinger of the positive changes to follow.

The incidents surrounding the “COLORED COMPUTERS” sign in the cafeteria highlight the importance of language in a public forum. Its wording is yet another attempt to dehumanize the women required to sit at that table, and the capital letters scream for attention from both the women and their white colleagues. The sign provokes the same sort of tension seen when Black individuals and white individuals encounter each other in the shared public spaces outside of Langley. It is never clear who places and replaces the sign, which suggests that that person might not be so bold as to disrespect the women to their faces. When Shetterly does name Miriam Mann as the one who removed the signs, however, it illustrates the importance of her victory over this unjust language and the need for transparency to bring about social change in public.

The fact that the townspeople refer to Langley personnel as “weirdos” shows that despite the racial, social, and educational divisions at Langley, all of its staffers are somehow separate from society as a whole. Because everyone on the team comes from a different geographical location, their perspectives on racial prejudice vary from one another. This is a stark contrast to the townspeople who have likely spent their entire lives in the same area and adhere to more of a group-think mentality with regard to racial issues. Prior to the war, the region was largely agricultural, and its new emphasis on advanced technology requires new ways of thinking. The ability of the team at Langley to find strength in their differences and create a functional work environment underscores the possibilities of this new thinking, which sets them apart from the less socially and racially diverse townspeople.

Dorothy’s decision to double-down on her investment in her family’s future at all costs highlights the hope, enthusiasm, and confidence that the end of the war symbolizes. The postwar world offers a new beginning, and her confidence that the social and economic improvements that came about during wartime will continue echoes the optimistic mood of many Americans during that time. Dorothy's choice to commit to an apartment is risky, but her decision to put down roots in an area with an uncertain future and a problematic stance on racism is a clear indication of her confidence that positive changes are on the horizon.

Previous section Chapters Three & Four Next section Chapters Eight–Eleven