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Littmus Lozenges
Gloria Dump’s “mistake tree” encapsulates the novel’s insistence that it’s important to learn from one’s past mistakes. In Gloria’s younger years, she was an alcoholic. She tied alcohol bottles that she emptied through the course of her alcoholism to a tree in her yard in order to, as she tells Opal, “keep the ghosts away”—that is, to keep her sober and to remind her of all the lessons she learned while she was drinking. With this, the novel insists that people cannot simply gloss over the embarrassing or imperfect parts of their lives. It’s essential to try to find lessons in one’s past experiences and follow them going forward. Even more than that, though, Because of Winn-Dixie suggests that it’s also important to pass these lessons onto others wherever possible. Gloria does this by sharing the idea behind her mistake tree with Opal, which helps Opal become more understanding of her own Mama’s alcoholism—and ultimately, to understand that Mama isn’t coming back.
The Mistake Tree Quotes in Because of Winn-Dixie
The Because of Winn-Dixie quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Mistake Tree. 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 14
Quotes
“Why are all those bottles on it?”
“To keep the ghosts away,” Gloria said.
“What ghosts?”
“The ghosts of all the things I done wrong.”
I looked at all the bottles on the tree. “You did that many things wrong?” I asked her.
“Mmmm-hmmm,” said Gloria. “More than that.”
“But you’re the nicest person I know,” I told her.
“Doesn’t mean I haven’t done bad things,” she said.
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I stayed where I was and studied the tree. I wondered if my mama, wherever she was, had a tree full of bottles; and I wondered if I was a ghost to her, the same way she sometimes seemed like a ghost to me.
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Chapter 15
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It all made me think about Gloria Dump. I wondered who comforted her when she heard those bottles knocking together, those ghosts chattering about the things she had done wrong. I wanted to comfort Gloria Dump. And I decided that the best way to do that would be to read her a book, read it to her loud enough to keep the ghosts away.
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Chapter 26
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“Mama,” I said, just like she was standing right beside me, “I know ten things about you, and that’s not enough, that’s not near enough. But Daddy is going to tell me more; I know he will, now that he knows you’re not coming back. He misses you and I miss you, but my heart doesn’t feel empty anymore. It’s full all the way up. I’ll still think about you, I promise. But probably not as much as I did this summer.”
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Get the entire Because of Winn-Dixie LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Mistake Tree Symbol Timeline in Because of Winn-Dixie
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Mistake Tree appears in Because of Winn-Dixie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 14
...something and leads her to the back of the yard. There, Opal studies a huge tree with whiskey, beer, and wine bottles hung from it. The bottles clang and make a...
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...bottles, Gloria says that she’s aware—she drank the contents and hung the bottles on the tree. In a whisper, Opal whispers that Mama drank, and according to the preacher, sometimes she...
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...Dunlap too harshly either. Opal agrees. Gloria and Winn-Dixie walk away, but Opal studies the tree. She wonders if Mama has a tree full of bottles. She wonders if she’s a...
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Chapter 26
...clear as Opal walks to the back of Gloria’s yard to look at the mistake tree. As she stares up at the bottles, Opal addresses Mama. She tells Mama that she...
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