Because of Winn-Dixie: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

When Opal and Winn-Dixie get to Gloria’s, Opal says she has a big surprise and a small one. Gloria asks for the small one first, so Opal hands her a Littmus Lozenge. Gloria remembers the candies; she pops the lozenge in her mouth and agrees that it tastes sad. Then, Opal announces that she’s going to read Gone With the Wind out loud. It has 1,037 pages, so it’ll take a long time. Opal reads the first chapter “loud enough to keep the ghosts away.” That night, Opal gives the preacher his candy as he kisses her goodnight. He eats the candy and says it has a peculiar flavor. Opal watches him seem to get further away and withdraw into his shell. He says the candy tastes “melancholy,” a word Opal has never heard before. The preacher says it makes him think of Mama.

The preacher sighs that it must be a bad batch if it tastes sad, but Opal explains that it’s supposed to taste that way. She tells the preacher Littmus’s story and how he invented Littmus Lozenges. Winn-Dixie starts eating the candy wrapper and refuses to let Opal take the wrapper from him. Then, the preacher says that Stevie and Dunlap’s mama mentioned that Opal called Stevie a bald-headed baby. Opal says she did, but only because Stevie calls Gloria a witch and calls Otis bad names. The preacher says that Opal needs to apologize, since she hurt Stevie’s feelings and he just wants to be friends. He insists that some people have an odd way of making friends.

Opal asks if the preacher knows anything about Amanda Wilkinson and a person named Carson. The preacher says that Carson was Amanda’s brother. He drowned last year; he was only five years old. Opal asks why the preacher neglected to mention that, but the preacher insists that they shouldn’t gossip about other people’s tragedies. Opal insists that she needed to know, since Carson’s death explains why Amanda is so “pinch-faced.” The preacher kisses Opal, pats Winn-Dixie, and leaves the room.

Opal lies in bed and confusedly thinks about how life is like a Littmus Lozenge. It’s a mixture of sweetness and sadness, and it’s impossible to separate the two. She shouts for the preacher, and when he returns, she asks him what word he used to describe the candies. She ponders the word melancholy, eats another candy, and thinks of Mama leaving. She thinks of Amanda and Carson. Carson was Sweetie Pie’s age, but he’s never going to have a sixth birthday party.