Friday, June 17, 2016

In Tuck Everlasting what are some important objects from the Foster's home?

This is a really tough question.  The reason for that is because not much happens at the Foster household, so there isn't much narrative detail about important items at the house.  I also am not sure if I had to pick items that were contained within the house itself, or if I could use objects that are on the Foster property (contained within their yard).  I'll start wide and work my way in.  

The first object that came to my mind is the toad.  Winnie uses the toad as her confessional early in the book.  She tells the toad her frustrations with her parents and how they micromanage every little detail within her life.  She tells the toad how she longs for freedom, so she tells the toad how she plans to run away.  The toad is also important late in the story, because Winnie pours the bottle of spring water over the toad in order to save its life . . . forever.  


The bottle of spring water does happen to be in the Foster home at one point in the story.  Winnie hides it in her room inside of a drawer, so I think that the bottle counts as an important item in the Foster home.  The bottle, more than any other object in the story, is highly symbolic.  It represents the possiblity of life without death.  It represents a life crossroads for Winnie.  It represents choice.  It's also representative of consequences, because whether Winnie drinks from it or not, there will be a consquence to that choice.  


One more object.  This object is in the Foster home, and it is in the Foster home the entire story.  The object is the rocking chair in Winnie's room.  Many kids, my own included, have a "blankie."  It is their comfort item.  They use it when they are sad, or scared, or even happy.  It's security, safety, and comfort.  Winnie doesn't have a blankie.  She has her rocking chair, and she uses it after the constable brings her back home.  



Winnie pulled her little rocking chair up to her bedroom window and sat down. The rocking chair had been given to her when she was very small, but she still squeezed into it sometimes, when no one was looking, because the rocking made her almost remember something pleasant, something soothing, that would never quite come up to the surface of her mind.


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