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Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Great Gilly Hopkins, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Home
Fantasy, Lies, and Growing Up
Bigotry, Insecurity, and Shared Humanity
The Foster Care System
Summary
Analysis
Gilly now recognizes that she has to get out of Thompson Park—if she stays much longer, she’ll become “soft.” Two days after she gives the card to Miss Harris, Trotter asks Gilly to babysit William Ernest while she takes Mr. Randolph to the dime store. The opportunity to steal is too perfect, and Gilly decides to utilize both William Ernest and Agnes. She looks up Agnes in the phone book (luckily, Agnes’s father is still listed at the right address, even though he long ago abandoned Agnes with his mother-in-law). Agnes is thrilled to help and agrees to whistle loudly if she sees Trotter and Mr. Randolph return.
Gilly’s fear that she’ll become “soft” if she stays in Thompson Park reveals that Trotter’s kindness and Miss Harris’s level-headedness is beginning to get to Gilly. Part of her wants to connect and let herself trust these people who genuinely seem to care about her, but the draw of Gilly’s biological mother remains too strong. Here, the novel also confirms outright that Agnes and Gilly have much in common as it describes Agnes’s father leaving Agnes.
Themes
However, Gilly struggles to explain to William Ernest what the plan is, and why they must do it. She insists that Mr. Randolph asked them to get something from a high shelf down for him while he’s gone, and confused, William Ernest halfheartedly agrees. Leaving Agnes outside (she’s been promised cash to not tell William Ernest the truth), Gilly leads William Ernest into Mr. Randolph’s house and points to the tall shelf—Gilly will have to stand on the arm of a chair with William Ernest on her shoulders to reach the top. He’s afraid, but Gilly reassures him, reminding him how fun it will be when it’s time to reveal this “surprise” to Trotter later.
Gilly expertly manipulates her minions, preying on William Ernest’s earnestness and good nature and Agnes’s desperation to be included. She knows that Trotter and William Ernest have a very close relationship, so lying that this is a surprise for her makes it okay in William Ernest’s mind. This also highlights broadly how Gilly lies to get her way and to justify her bad behavior, whether she’s lying to others or herself.
Themes
At this, William Ernest bravely climbs up and onto Gilly’s shoulders. He accidentally dumps the encyclopedia volume on the floor, but he discovers a roll of bills moments before Agnes whistles. Gilly pockets it and insists to William Ernest that she’ll give it to Mr. Randolph later. When Gilly finds Agnes waiting for her in Trotter’s house, she reiterates her promise to pay up—but not now, or they’ll both get in trouble. Gilly hurries upstairs and discovers that she only stole $34. She sets aside five dollars for Agnes, disappointed that this scheme didn’t turn up more. She considers paying William Ernest too, but she’ll need all the money she can find to make it to California.
Even as Gilly abuses everyone’s trust and William Ernest’s admiration, there are still signs in this passage that Gilly is changing. She doesn’t follow through on setting aside money for William Ernest, but the very fact that she considers thanking him in this way suggests she’s beginning to see him as someone worthy of her respect. In all cases, Gilly’s desire to reunite with Courtney is stronger than her burgeoning trust and comfort with adult authority figures and peers alike.
Themes
That evening, while Trotter is watching the news, Gilly has her big idea. She’ll dust. She begins immediately in Trotter’s house and finds the work calming. The following night, she’s done Trotter’s entire house except the chandelier. Over supper, Trotter insists nobody will notice if it’s dusty, but Gilly insists she needs a ladder. She offers to dust Mr. Randolph’s house when she’s done with Trotter’s, and he’s thrilled—he even has a ladder in his basement she can borrow. Both adults look so happy that Gilly almost feels bad abusing their trust. After supper, Gilly cleans the chandelier and then packs her suitcase. She’ll leave tomorrow night, after she figures out what a ticket costs and gets more money.
Gilly’s big idea allows her to seem generous and helpful, while also giving her ample opportunities to take advantage of Mr. Randolph. The fact that she finds some peace and calm dusting is another indicator that she could help herself feel better doing things other than trying to steal and reunite with Courtney, but Gilly remains too fixated to genuinely consider that possibility.
Themes
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The next afternoon, Gilly gives Agnes her five dollars and lies that she split the money three ways between them and William Ernest. When Gilly gets home, she accepts Trotter’s invitation to have a snack—who knows when she’ll be able to eat next? Trotter has clearly finished her daily Bible reading and explains she’s writing “one of [her] old children” as she tells Gilly where the cookies are. Inviting Gilly to sit, Trotter thanks Gilly for being so kind to William Ernest and praises her intelligence. Gilly is screaming inside, but fortunately, William Ernest gets home and distracts Trotter.
Trotter’s kind openness is so uncomfortable for Gilly because she knows full well that she’s not actually being nice—and she’s using her intelligence to hurt people. The way that Trotter mentions writing to an “old child” of hers confirms that she’s been fostering children for a long time, likely explaining how she developed some of the parenting techniques that have been so effective on Gilly.
Themes
To herself, Gilly thinks that to really help William Ernest, she and Trotter would need to teach him to do things for himself. But Gilly reasons she can’t stay here, or she’ll end up repeating what happened with the Dixons—she loved and trusted them, but then they moved to Florida and left her like she was garbage. She’s “nobody’s real kid,” so she has to protect herself. Just then, William Ernest elbows Gilly and mouths “surprise.” She shushes him and excuses herself to dust at Mr. Randolph’s.
This passage describes an important event in Gilly’s life that compounded the trauma she experienced when Courtney placed her in foster care. Gilly allowed herself to love a foster family once—and they ended up breaking her trust. Readers can infer that there were likely rules in place that contributed to this outcome, but this doesn’t matter to Gilly. Only the pain, and what she learned, have stuck. With this, the novel acknowledges that while the foster care system plays an important role in caring for children, it’s not always set up to truly serve their needs.
Themes
Mr. Randolph has clearly just woken up when he answers the door. He insists that Gilly doesn’t actually have to dust—he can’t see it anyway—and his son sends someone to vacuum. Gilly insists she’d like to help him because it would help Trotter, which wins him over. He lets her in and resumes his nap in his chair, insisting he won’t pester her and that she isn’t bothering him. Gilly asks him to get up so she can move the chair to access the shelf. She begins elsewhere in the living room, listening for snores, but she can’t tell if Mr. Randolph is sleeping. Reasoning that he’s blind and mostly deaf, she climbs her ladder and inspects the top of the bookshelf. She finds nothing but dust as she puts the encyclopedia set in order while Mr. Randolph chatters at her.
Once again, Gilly shows that she knows how to be kind and generous as she convinces Mr. Randolph to let her dust. Still, she continues to use that kindness for selfish means. Much to Gilly’s chagrin, she ends up genuinely just helping Mr. Randolph and finds no more hidden cash. It’s possible to see her desire to organize the encyclopedia set as yet another result of an unstructured childhood where she couldn’t trust anyone or anything. Now, when she gets the opportunity to create order for herself, she takes it.
Themes
Seething, Gilly puts the ladder away and doesn’t acknowledge Mr. Randolph’s thanks. Back at Trotter’s house, Gilly unpacks her things and writes to Courtney, suggesting that her “real mother” should know what’s happening to her daughter. Gilly describes Trotter as a “religious fanatic” with a dirty home. She insults William Ernest’s intelligence and claims that Trotter expects Gilly to care for William Ernest and do well in school. She has $39 saved for a bus ticket and needs Courtney to send her the rest of the money quickly. In a postscript, she insists she won’t be a burden, states the cost of a ticket, and offers to get a job to pay Courtney back. Then, Gilly mails the letter before she has a chance to rethink her choice.
In this passage, Gilly’s frustration and powerlessness gets the better of her, and she reaches out to the one person who she believes has the power to change her life: Courtney. Her lies and exaggerations serve a clear purpose—to make Trotter’s house appear neglectful—even as Gilly herself knows that none of what she says is really true. The letter’s postscript exposes Gilly’s vulnerability. She seems to be going out of her way to convince Courtney that Gilly is responsible, when Gilly should really be able to rely on adult caregivers to just care for her—not nickel and dime her or make her feel like a burden.
Themes
