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Chapter 22
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
Gloria yells at Opal to save the sandwiches and the punch. Opal and the preacher grab the food while Sweetie Pie rescues her dog pictures. Amanda helps Miss Franny into the house, and Opal goes back out to help Gloria. Opal looks around at the soggy decorations and notices that Otis is still standing in the rain with his jar of pickles. She yells for him to come in the house. Inside, Amanda and Miss Franny laugh. When Gertrude squawks “dog,” Opal freezes: she forgot about Winn-Dixie and protecting him from the thunder. The preacher assures Opal that he’s probably hiding under a chair in the yard. Opal races into the yard and looks everywhere. She feels like crying. She knows this is her fault, since she forgot to hold onto him.
Because the storm is such a surprise, Opal turns toward who and what she cares about most in this moment: preserving the party elements and helping the people she loves most. Not thinking about Winn-Dixie is entirely forgivable given the circumstances—so Opal’s insistence that this is her fault reflects her belief that when people leave or disappear from her life, it’s because she did something wrong. In other words, this may be about Mama as much as it is about Winn-Dixie.
Themes
The preacher calls for Opal. Opal turns around and sees that the preacher and Gloria are with Dunlap and Stevie. Opal refuses to greet the boys, but Gloria makes her come onto the porch and tell the boys what’s going on. Dutifully, Opal thanks Stevie and Dunlap for coming but says that she needs to go find Winn-Dixie. Dunlap offers to help, but Opal shakes her head and tries not to cry. Gloria calls Opal close and whispers that it’s impossible to hold onto something that wants to leave. People can only love what they have while they have it. With that, she sends Opal off into the rain. The last thing Opal sees is Dunlap on Gloria’s porch. The sight makes her sad. Dunlap raises a hand to wave, but Opal doesn’t wave back.
Gloria makes Opal understand that even though she has every right to be upset, that’s no excuse to be rude and shut out potential friends. Her whispered advice, meanwhile, may apply more to Mama than it does to Winn-Dixie—Winn-Dixie ran out of sheer terror, not necessarily because he wanted to leave. Mama, however, did want to leave—there’s probably nothing Opal could’ve done to keep her from doing so, even if she’d been older and more aware of what was going on.
Themes
