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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Growing Up
Adventure, Mystery, and Secrets
Family
Independence, Capability, and Creativity
Art, Beauty, and Wonder
Summary
Analysis
That night, Jamie and Mrs. Frankweiler play cards while Claudia records their story into the tape recorder. (Jamie wins.) Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid call (Saxonberg apparently told them the children were here). It’s all Mrs. Frankweiler can do to convince them to let the children spend the night; Mrs. Kincaid keeps asking questions about the children’s condition, and Mrs. Frankweiler figures she’s read too many newspaper stories about lost children. While Jamie takes a turn recording his part of the story, Mrs. Frankweiler gives Claudia a tour of the house, and they have a pleasant talk.
The Kincaids’ parents are brought into the loop at last, connecting back to the beginning of the story when running away was Claudia’s biggest concern. Mrs. Frankweiler’s remark about Mrs. Kincaid’s fears is arguably a bit insensitive, but it suggests that at the time the book is set (the 1960s), it was more common kids to have some level of independence from their parents. The kids’ recorded account presumably becomes the basis of Mrs. Frankweiler’s written account.
Themes
Early the next morning, Sheldon drives the kids home to Greenwich. Mrs. Frankweiler encloses a copy of Sheldon’s report for Saxonberg’s amusement. Sheldon reports that Jamie spent the first part of the drive pressing every button in the Rolls-Royce’s backseat. At one point he presses the button for the intercom, which lets Sheldon hear the kids’ conversation. They mostly speculate about why Mrs. Frankweiler sold Angel in the first place. Claudia figures she did it because she wanted people to know she had a secret.
As they finally journey home, Jamie’s madcap button-pushing provides a pretext for Sheldon hearing and sharing the kids’ conversation. Even though the kids have now met their goal of learning Angel’s story, some things—like Mrs. Frankweiler’s motivations—remain a mystery.
Themes
The kids plan to pool their money (Jamie won 34 cents at cards last night; Claudia has cornflake money coming) to visit Mrs. Frankweiler again. After thinking a bit, Claudia wonders if Mrs. Frankweiler meant what she said about motherhood. Jamie doesn’t know, but he thinks they should visit her every time they save up enough money—it can be a secret. Claudia adds that they can “adopt” her—they don’t have a living grandmother, after all. That way, Mrs. Frankweiler can become “the only woman in the world to become a grandmother [without] becoming a mother first.”
This is a humorous callback to Jamie’s gambling and Claudia sending off cereal box tops at the beginning of the story. The difference is that now, the kids have a better use for their money than hot fudge sundaes or simply hoarding. Sensing that Mrs. Frankweiler is lonely, they essentially welcome her into their family. This brings the story full circle, as the kids don’t just return home after running away but expand their family circle in the process. Of course, there are many women in the world who’ve become grandmothers without bearing biological children first, but Claudia’s point is lovingly meant. She has the power to do what Mrs. Frankweiler thought impossible: give her a kind of experience of motherhood.
Themes
Sheldon delivers the children to their address in Greenwich. He sees a man and woman waiting by the window, and he thinks he sees Saxonberg as well. A younger boy (Kevin) rushes out of the house as the kids get out of the car. In closing, Sheldon notes that the children failed to thank him.
It’s surprising to see Saxonberg at the Kincaids’ house, since (as far as readers know at this point) he’s just Mrs. Frankweiler’s lawyer. Sheldon’s cranky observation is a reminder that the kids are, after all, just kids—and that although they earlier claimed not to be homesick, they’re actually extremely excited to see their family. It’s possible that they’ve learned to appreciate them more (not just vice versa).
Themes
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Mrs. Frankweiler tells Saxonberg that this is why she’s leaving the angel sketch to “your two lost grandchildren that you were so worried about.” Since Saxonberg is already their grandfather, and she’s going to become their adopted grandmother, that makes the two of them—well, Mrs. Frankweiler doesn’t want to think about it.
Finally, in a closing twist (and the novel’s last big secret), it’s revealed that Saxonberg has a direct connection to the Kincaids—and this adds a layer of coincidence to their discovery of Angel. In fact, Angel eventually led them back home, by way of Mrs. Frankweiler, Saxonberg’s employer. Mrs. Frankweiler’s disgust at the idea that she and Saxonberg would be somewhat like a couple is not only amusing. But it also hints that maybe she’s just pretending to be repelled by the notion, and that her badgering criticisms have been affectionate all along.
Themes
Mrs. Frankweiler tells Saxonberg to rewrite her will with a clause about the drawing. She figures she should probably donate her bed to the Metropolitan as well. She doesn’t really like donating things—after all, everyone gets the things after she’s dead. She will sign the will at the museum restaurant; Saxonberg must take her there. Sheldon and Parks will serve as witnesses.
Mrs. Frankweiler brings the story full circle, now that she’s explained the reason behind the change she wants made in her will. She also gets her way by insisting that Saxonberg take her to the Metropolitan’s restaurant, which she scolded him earlier for never having visited.
Themes
Mrs. Frankweiler wonders if Claudia and Jamie will come to visit her again. She wouldn’t mind that, and she’s also got an “edge”—the secret that Saxonberg, their grandfather, has been her lawyer for 41 years.
Mrs. Frankweiler makes the kids’ relationship to Saxonberg extra clear. It’s also apparent that the kids’ surprise—to “adopt” her as a grandmother—will be very welcome.
Themes
Mrs. Frankweiler heard on the radio that the New York City Parks budget has been cut because of the need for extra security at the Metropolitan. Mrs. Frankweiler has Sheldon talk to his friend Morris the guard to find out what’s going on. Morris reports that a violin case was discovered in a sarcophagus, followed by a trumpet case two days later. The cases are full of gray laundry and a transistor radio. These items are sitting in the museum’s Lost and Found, and nobody has claimed them.
In a final humorous note, Morris’s intel reveals the fate of Claudia and Jamie’s runaway luggage. For the Metropolitan staff, the strange instrument case inexplicably filled with laundry will probably remain a mystery forever.
Themes
