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Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Walk Two Moons, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling
Parents, Children, and Growing Up
Grief
Nature
Summary
Analysis
Gramps reminds Sal that she was just about to tell them what Phoebe thought happened to Mr. Cadaver. Sal explains that just as Phoebe was going to say what happened, Mr. Winterbottom got home, and it was time for dinner. In the story, Sal is sitting around the table with the Winterbottoms. Mr. and Mrs. Winterbottom remind Sal of her Pickford grandparents. They speak quietly, sit up straight, and are very polite. They’re also picky about their food; they don’t eat meat or use butter, out of fear of cholesterol.
The novel has characterized the Hiddles as free-spirited, outdoorsy, quirky people, so the Winterbottoms are a shock for Sal by comparison. Momma’s stories about her own uptight parents implied that being so “respectable” can mean that people don’t have much fun. This could explain why Phoebe is so interested in outlandish stories—she may use them as an escape from her otherwise boring life.
Themes
Mr. Winterbottom works in an office, while Mrs. Winterbottom is a housewife. She spends her days doing laundry, cleaning, and baking—and Sal gets the impression that Mrs. Winterbottom isn’t happy with her lot in life. Though her words make it seem like she’s happy, her behavior suggests otherwise. For instance, Mrs. Winterbottom remarks over dinner that she’s made a lot of pies in the last week. Nobody comments on her pie when she serves it, and Mrs. Winterbottom sighs. Sal thinks it’s strange that she bakes so many pies when the family is so concerned about cholesterol. Later, she mentions that she couldn’t find Mr. Winterbottom’s favorite brand of muesli, but Mr. Winterbottom says nothing.
Although Sal is young, she’s able to intuit that Mrs. Winterbottom feels forgotten and taken for granted. This could simply be because Sal is an outsider and can see the Winterbottoms’ dynamic more objectively, or perhaps because Sal’s own mother felt similarly dissatisfied before she left Sal and Dad. The other Winterbottoms, it’s implied, either aren’t aware of Mrs. Winterbottom’s feelings or don’t care, because this state of affairs is normal to them.
Themes
Sal is happy for Mrs. Winterbottom when the woman suggests she’ll go back to work, now that Phoebe and Prudence are back in school. But again, no one comments on her suggestion, and she sighs. It surprises Sal when Mrs. Winterbottom uses pet names, like “sweetie pie” and “honey bun,” to talk to Mr. Winterbottom. This is because Mrs. Winterbottom seems used to being “plain and ordinary.” In contrast, Mr. Winterbottom looks like the stereotypical father, still wearing his tie and speaking clearly and seriously. Sal understands why the man thought he was 52 and not 38. Prudence, who’s 17, is a lot like her mother. Sal thinks the whole family is peculiar: they’re too “tidy and respectable.”
Sal recognizes that work will give Mrs. Winterbottom a sense of identity and purpose outside her role as a wife and mother. But when nobody else reacts, it makes it seem like Mrs. Winterbottom’s family members care whether she’s happy and fulfilled. Mr. Winterbottom also brushes off his wife’s affection, which further contributes to the sense that she’s underappreciated at home. On the whole, the family presents themselves as polished and “respectable,” yet Sal can see that their dynamic is strained below the surface. This is, in a sense, another example of one story buried beneath another.
Themes
Phoebe walks Sal home after dinner. She insists that Mrs. Cadaver is very strong—she suspects that Mrs. Cadaver chopped up Mr. Cadaver and buried him in the backyard. Sal thinks this is far-fetched, but that night, she realizes she wants to believe that Mrs. Cadaver is capable of such a thing. But then, Sal thinks about blackberries and remembers picking blackberries with Momma. According to Momma, people should only pick blackberries that were growing “at people-height”; ones up high or down low were for the animals and birds.
Again, given that Phoebe seems to come up with stories that aren’t based in reality, it’s likely that she’s way off in thinking Mrs. Cadaver murdered her husband. Sal can see both points of view: she realizes that it’s far-fetched to think Phoebe lives next door to a murderer, but she also appreciates having a reason to hate Margaret. Meanwhile, the way that Momma framed proper blackberry-picking etiquette shows how much she valued nature and taught Sal to care for other beings in the world.
Themes
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This memory makes Sal think of another one, from when Momma was pregnant. Momma had slept in late, and Dad was already out in the field, but he left flowers on the table for Sal and Momma. Seeing them, Momma led Sal out to surprise Dad. They found him admiring a fence he fixed, and Momma looked like she was going to sneak up on Dad and kiss him. But then, Dad turned around, and it seemed to surprise Momma. Sal was confused when she saw that Momma was crying. Momma sobbed that Dad was too good, and that she’d never be as good. Sal was expecting something happy to happen, but instead, everything was sad.
Momma is pregnant in this flashback, which raises more questions, since Sal hasn’t mentioned having a sibling. It’s unclear what this means—Momma may have taken Sal’s sibling with her when she left, or something could have gone wrong with the pregnancy. Either way, this detail calls back to Sal’s earlier mention of her fear of pregnant women—her experience with Momma’s pregnancy could very well have inspired this fear. This flashback more generally suggests that Sal was, perhaps, not as attuned to the particulars of her parents’ relationship as she thought she was. For instance, Sal assumes that Momma and Dad are going to have a loving interaction, but this isn’t what happened. Instead, Momma’s emotional reaction suggests that Dad’s kind gesture made her feel inadequate by comparison, which hints that their marriage was plagued by misunderstanding and dissatisfaction.
Themes
The next morning, Sal found Dad in the kitchen, staring at two dishes of blackberries. He explained that Momma picked them. When Momma came in from outside, Dad kissed her, and it was very romantic. Momma said shyly that she was almost as good as Dad, and for some reason, Sal felt betrayed. Lying in bed, Sal thinks it’s surprising how much a person can remember when they eat a blackberry pie.
Momma loved blackberries, so they were a way for her to show Sal and Dad she cared—and bittersweet memories like this are why Sal still associates blackberries with Momma in the present. Sal likely felt betrayed because she idolized Momma, and Momma’s implication that she wasn’t perfect was unsettling because it challenged Sal’s perception of who her mother was.
Themes
