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Symbols
Littmus Lozenges represent the idea that it’s impossible to separate happiness and sadness from each other. Miss Franny Block’s great-great-grandfather, Littmus W. Block, began manufacturing the lozenges after the Civil War, and he included a secret ingredient in the otherwise sweet candy: sadness. His experiences during and after the war taught him that even things which seem righteous and good can have hideous aspects—and that even in the midst of grief and horror, it’s possible and necessary to take the time to celebrate the happy parts of life. People’s reactions to the lozenges suggest that this understanding is something that comes with age. While adults and even 10-year-old Opal are able to appreciate the taste of the sadness (representing their grasp of this idea), young children like five-year-old Sweetie Pie Thomas spit the candy out—at their age, they’re not yet ready to see the world in such a nuanced way.
Littmus Lozenges Quotes in Because of Winn-Dixie
The Because of Winn-Dixie quotes below all refer to the symbol of Littmus Lozenges. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 17
Quotes
I ate my Littmus Lozenge slow. It tasted good. It tasted like root beer and strawberry and something else I didn’t have a name for, something that made me feel kind of sad. I looked over at Amanda. She was sucking on her candy and thinking hard.
“Do you like it?” Miss Franny asked me.
“Yes ma’am,” I told her.
“What about you, Amanda? Do you like the Littmus Lozenge?”
“Yes ma’am,” she said. “But it makes me think of things I feel sad about.”
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Chapter 18
Quotes
I didn’t go to sleep right away. I lay there and thought how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out. It was confusing.
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I got up out of bed and unwrapped a Littmus Lozenge and sucked on it hard and thought about my mama leaving me. That was a melancholy feeling. And then I thought about Amanda and Carson. And that made me feel melancholy, too. Poor Amanda. And poor Carson. He was the same age as Sweetie Pie. But he would never get to have his sixth birthday party.
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Chapter 25
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“Well,” said Gloria Dump. “We didn’t do nothin’. We just sat here and waited and sang some songs. We all got to be good friends. Now. The punch ain’t nothin’ but water and the egg-salad sandwiches got tore up by the rain. You got to eat them with a spoon if you want egg salad. But we got pickles to eat. And Littmus Lozenges. And we still got a party going on.”
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Get the entire Because of Winn-Dixie LitChart as a printable PDF.
Littmus Lozenges Symbol Timeline in Because of Winn-Dixie
The timeline below shows where the symbol Littmus Lozenges appears in Because of Winn-Dixie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 17
...walked all the way to Florida, planning a candy factory. There, Littmus made the famous Littmus Lozenge s. Neither Amanda nor Opal have heard of the candy. Miss Franny explains that they’re...
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Miss Franny offers Amanda and Opal Littmus Lozenge s. Opal asks if Winn-Dixie can have one too. Winn-Dixie swallows his in one gulp,...
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...he was able to put sadness in the candy. Opal asks if she can have Littmus Lozenge s to take to Gloria, Otis, the preacher, and Sweetie Pie. She stuffs her pockets,...
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Chapter 18
...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...
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...supposed to taste that way. She tells the preacher Littmus’s story and how he invented Littmus Lozenge s. Winn-Dixie starts eating the candy wrapper and refuses to let Opal take the wrapper...
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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....
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Chapter 19
...Winn-Dixie and Opal get to the pet store the next morning, Opal gives Otis a Littmus Lozenge . He asks if it’s Halloween and awkwardly accepts the candy. When he puts it...
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Sweetie Pie arrives later, and though she accepts a Littmus Lozenge from Opal, she spits it out immediately. To her, it tastes bad and like not...
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Chapter 21
Miss Franny arrives in a green silk dress and heels with a bowl of Littmus Lozenge s. Sweetie Pie’s mother drops off Sweetie Pie and asks Opal to walk her daughter...
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Chapter 22
...party at a witch’s house. Gloria says that regardless, they have food, punch, dog pictures, Littmus Lozenge s, and the preacher to bless the party.
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Chapter 26
...and says he’ll teach them all some songs. Miss Franny passes Opal the bowl of Littmus Lozenge s and Opal eats one. She turns down Otis’s proffered pickle. Winn-Dixie leans into Opal,...
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