Textual Illustrations of Themes

 

Death, Grief, and Denial

Loss is a theme that runs throughout Walk Two Moons. The story begins and ends with deaths. Reference is made to Sal's sister, who was stillborn, and the deaths of Sal's two uncles at some point in the past. A mysterious character in the novel is actually named Mrs. Cadaver.  Mrs. Cadaver's husband had also been killed in a car accident.  When Sal's father wants to talk to her about her mother's absence, Sal tells him "I don't want to hear it," admitting to herself that she was "feeling so completely ornery" (p. 90).  Later, Sal explains "When my father said that my mother was not coming back, I refused to believe it" (p. 133). Reflecting on her grief towards the end of the book, Sal acknowledges that

"Whenever anyone tried to console me about my mother, I had nearly chomped their heads off... When my father would say, 'You must feel terrible,' I denied it.  'I don't,' I told him. 'I don't feel anything at all.' But I did feel terrible. I didn't want to wake up in the morning, and I was afraid to go to sleep at night." (p. 135-36)

 

Motherhood and Identity

There is a recurrent theme in the novel around the identity of mothers, who may, in caring so much for the needs of others, lose sight of their true selves. For example, when Chanhassen wants to leave to visit a cousin in Idaho, she tries to explain:

"She'll tell me what I'm really like."

"I could tell you that, Sugar," my father said.

"No, I mean before I was a wife and mother. I mean underneath, where I am Chanhassen" (p.143).

At another point, Sal notices Mrs. Winterbottom's pretense at happiness:

Mrs. Winterbottom baked and cleaned and did laundry and grocery shopping.  I had a funny feeling that Mrs. Winterbottom did not actually like all this baking and cleaning and laundry and shopping, and I’m not quite sure why I had that feeling because if you just listened to the words she said, it sounded as if she was Mrs. Supreme Housewife (p.30).

 

Hope, Love, and Acceptance

Sal shows signs of coming to terms with death when she questions "how could such a thing [as death] be normal and terrible both at the same time?" (p. 197).  She finally--and fully--acknowledges the truth when she sees her mother's grave:  "It was only then, when I saw the stone and her name--Chanhassen 'Sugar' Pickford Hiddle--and the engraving of the tree, that I knew, by myself and for myself, that she was not coming back" (p. 268). And yet, Sal realizes that her mother's memory is still with her, saying "She isn't actually gone at all. She's singing in the trees" (p. 268). At the close of the book, Sal reflects on what she's learned:

It seems to me that we can't explain all the truly awful things in the world like war and murder and brain tumors, and we can't fix these things, so we look at the frightening things that are closer to us and we magnify them until they burst open. Inside is something that we can manage, something that isn't as awful as it had at first seemed. It is a relief to discover that although there might be axe murderers and kidnappers in the world, most people seem a lot like us: sometimes afraid and sometimes brave, sometimes cruel and sometimes kind" (p. 277).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of Walk Two Moons takes place on a long car trip that Sal, the main character, takes with her idiosyncratic Gram and Gramps.  The ostensible purpose of the trip is for Sal to find her missing mother, who left the family to shake off a depression that had her in its grip following the birth of a stillborn baby. The Mom had, somewhat mysteriously (at least to Sal) never returned. 

 

Sal’s trip begins in Euclid, Ohio, and ends in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  During the long drive, which takes place over several days, Sal recounts to her grandparents the complicated story of her relationship with her new friend Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother also leaves her family, although she returns after a few days. Interwoven with this account are some of Sal’s memories of her family, along with descriptions of the colorful events and whimsical behavior of her grandparents during the car ride.

 

There is a building sense of suspense as the reader tries to solve the mystery of Sal’s mother’s absence.  Sal has cut off all her father’s attempts to explain, and we are made to understand that she is not ready to face some difficult truth. The story of Phoebe’s family is a story within the larger story of Sal’s own journey, which requires her to finally come to terms with the tragic loss of her mother. 

 

Many relatively minor characters and relationships are brought to life and add depth and complexity to the story. These include the intense attachment between Gram and Gramps; John’s puzzling friendship with Margaret; and Sal’s burgeoning friendship with her classmate, Ben.  Phoebe’s confusing relationship with her own mother, and her mother’s confusing relationship to the past, are also explored.

 

Themes of loss, grief, denial, motherhood, identity, and hope flow through this novel, knitted together with humor and the profoundly resilient ties of familial love.

Summary