Throughout the novel, “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead,” Ms. Duszejko reads and deciphers people’s astrological signs. By believing her graphs to be true, she puts people into categories before even having a conversation with them. This ultimately affects how everyone in the story is viewed because we cannot fully put our trust in her knowing she believes in something that’s not proven. Despite her belief in astrology she also has some very particular knowledge of science, and as we know science creates the rules that define our existence. Ms. Duszejko obviously knows how science works but thinks of it differently than most.

When talking about Dizzy being more quick witted than her she says, “I have a Theory that salt is very good for the transmission of nerve impulses across the synapses.” She references a very difficult topic that people only in biology courses would know about, meaning plenty of time was put in to learn about something that was just a theory to her. Her “theory” is correct in that it helps nerves send signals across gaps between cells causing them to activate quicker, but why is it just a theory to her. Whenever it comes to astrology she never second guesses herself and always has the right answers for everyone but herself. By switching the roles of science and fiction Ms. Duszejko cannot compare her emotions to anyone else because what she believes to be true is only true to her. For her astrology is like the ‘main science’ of how the world works and everyone elses ‘main science’ is like fiction/astronomy to her. This flipped mindset is exactly what separates her from the rest, as she often sees things as “black and white”(good or bad) and makes a quick decision accordingly. From this, Ms. Duszejko lives in the pretense while everyone around her walks past neglecting her needs; just as she neglects everyone else’s before she even meets them.