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Chapter 23
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
Opal and the preacher call for Winn-Dixie. The rain makes it easy to cry, so Opal sobs the entire time. They walk through the downtown and out to the Friendly Corners Trailer Park, and then to the Open Arms Baptist Church of Naomi. They even head out to the highway. Opal worries that a car hit Winn-Dixie, but the preacher insists that they can’t worry about what may have happened. As they look, Opal mentally compiles a list of 10 things she knows about Winn-Dixie. She thinks she could write them on posters to help people find him. First, Winn-Dixie has a pathological fear of thunderstorms. He likes to smile and run fast, and he snores. He can catch mice gently. He likes to meet people and eat peanut butter, and he can’t be left alone. He likes to sit on furniture and doesn’t mind going to church.
Compiling the mental list of things about Winn-Dixie is a way for Opal to memorialize her best friend. Telling this story to herself helps her to fuel her love for him and keep their relationship alive, even if Winn-Dixie might not come back for one reason or another. In essence, this is a way for Opal to brace herself for a loss that she believes is imminent. However, even though Winn-Dixie’s possible loss is traumatic, it’s still important to recognize that loss is a part of life—and coming up with lists like this won’t make Winn-Dixie any less lost.
Themes
As Opal goes over the list and memorizes it like she memorized the one about Mama, she thinks that if they don’t find Winn-Dixie, at least she’ll have the list to remember him by. She also starts to think that a list can’t really describe the real Winn-Dixie—or Mama. That thought makes Opal cry even more. Finally, the preacher says they have to give up. Opal is indignant and upset. She accuses the preacher of always giving up and withdrawing. She suggests that he never looked for Mama either, and that he let her go. The preacher says he couldn’t stop Mama from leaving, and he starts to cry. He says he loves Winn-Dixie too and is just as upset that he’s missing.
Finally, Opal realizes that storytelling has its limits: these lists are no way for her to truly describe either her mother or Winn-Dixie. This forces her to accept that she doesn’t actually know Mama, no matter how hard she clings to what the preacher told her. In turn, this makes her even angrier with the preacher for his possible role in Mama’s departure. In her mind, the preacher just gives up when the going gets tough—he’s not the sort to try and weather through the hard times.
Themes
Opal goes to the preacher, hugs him, and tells him it’ll be okay. When the preacher stops crying, Opal asks if he thinks Mama will ever come back. The preacher says he’s been praying she will for years, but he doesn’t think she will. Opal repeats Gloria’s advice that they can’t hold on to anything; they can only love people while they’re around. The preacher says that Gloria is right. Opal announces that she’s not ready to let Winn-Dixie go. The preacher says they’ll keep looking, but he realizes he forgot to mention the one important thing that Mama did leave behind: Opal. Opal tells the preacher that she’s glad they have each other. They walk back into town holding hands, calling for Winn-Dixie.
Finally admitting that Mama is gone and not coming back allows Opal and the preacher to make room in their hearts for each other. This experience essentially gives them closure and forces them to refocus their attentions on the people they do have in their lives. The preacher’s choice to make it clear that Mama’s leaving Opal behind was fortunate for him offers hope that going forward, he’s going to try harder to be there for his daughter and make her feel loved, seen, and respected in their family.
Themes
