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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Because of Winn-Dixie, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Storytelling and Listening
Sadness, Happiness, and Growing Up
Family and Loss
Openness, Friendship, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Before Otis can run away, Opal introduces him to the preacher. The preacher puts out a hand to shake. Otis tries to figure out what to do with his big jar of pickles. He puts it on the ground, but when he leans forward, the guitar slides forward and bonks him in the head. Sweetie Pie laughs, but Otis wipes his hand and shakes the preacher’s hand. Opal introduces Otis to the other guests and Gloria last. Gloria asks when Dunlap and Stevie are arriving. Opal doesn’t know, but she privately suspects that they won’t come to a party at a witch’s house. Gloria says that regardless, they have food, punch, dog pictures, Littmus Lozenges, and the preacher to bless the party.
Opal hasn’t abandoned all of her prejudice; Stevie and Dunlap are, in her opinion, unimportant to the party and still not worth considering. Gloria’s choice to turn everyone’s attention to the food, the friends, and Sweetie Pie’s dog pictures shows that she truly embraces the idea that one should focus on the good things in life.
Themes
The preacher clears his throat and thanks God for friends, and the “complicated and wonderful gifts” that friends are. Everyone says “amen,” and Sweetie Pie asks if they can eat. They hear thunder in the distance. Gloria says that it wasn’t supposed to rain as Miss Franny frets over the possibility of her silk dress getting wet. Just as Amanda suggests they go inside, it starts to pour.
It’s telling that the preacher describes friends as “complicated and wonderful gifts.” It suggests that he understands how difficult it can be to make friends, but also that he recognizes the richness they add to one’s life—and therefore, cultivating them and throwing parties like this are extremely important.
Themes
