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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hoot, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Conservation and the Natural World
Bullying and Corruption
Morality, the Law, and Protest
Parenting and Support
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
A smaller limo brings Coconut Cove’s mayor, the head of the chamber of commerce, and Councilman Bruce Grandy to the site, while news vans start arriving soon after. Roy and Beatrice arrive just before noon, Mrs. Eberhardt’s camera in Roy’s backpack. To their surprise, half of Mr. Ryan’s history class and a bunch of parents are already there. And moments later, a Trace Middle School Athletic Department van pulls up with Beatrice’s soccer teammates, all of whom have posters. There’s no sign of Mullet Fingers or of the owls. The owls are probably too scared with all the commotion.
That so many local officials are attending the groundbreaking, along with the news crews, points out how hard Muckle has worked to make this into a major event. However, readers know that Roy, his classmates, and the parents in attendance are likely here to protest rather than celebrate a new pancake house in town. Muckle, in other words, is in for a surprise. While it makes sense that the owls themselves aren’t out and about right now, their absence also suggests there could be some problems—the burrows, at the moment, likely look uninhabited to uninformed eyes.
Themes
At 12:15, Officer Delinko, Curly, Chuck Muckle, and Kimberly Lou Dixon as Mother Paula come out of the construction trailer. Chuck Muckle clearly thinks he’s very cool, and he introduces important people in city government to the crowd. He says he’s delighted to announce the 469th Mother Paula’s location, and he insists Mother Paula will be a good friend and neighbor to everyone in Coconut Cove. At this, Roy mutters that that might be true—unless you’re an owl. Muckle attempts to make a joke and when no one laughs, he asks Mother Paula to join him.
Roy, of course, is right: Mother Paula’s isn’t going to be a good friend to Coconut Cove’s wild, non-human residents like the owls. And this is because the pancake company prioritizes profits over doing what’s right and moral. When nobody laughs at Muckle’s jokes, it suggests that there are perhaps more people in the crowd who agree with Roy than even Roy realizes. He has possibly gotten more people excited about the owls simply by speaking up to Mr. Ryan’s class yesterday.
Themes
Chuck Muckle, Kimberly Lou Dixon, and the local representatives each accept a gold-painted shovel and take a scoop of sand. Once the cameras are done flashing, Muckle tosses his shovel down and says that Mother Paula has some things to say. Taking the microphone, Miss Dixon says that she’ll be back in the spring for the grand opening, but Roy interrupts. In a shout, he says she won’t be back for the opening. He waves at Mother Paula and says that if she hurts an owl, he’ll never eat her pancakes again. Chuck Muckle dives for the megaphone, but Dixon elbows him aside and asks Roy to explain. Roy points to all the holes and says they’re owl burrows.
Dixon, it seems, genuinely has no idea that there are burrowing owls on the construction site—and Muckle’s behavior suggests he’d like to keep it that way. He seems to suspect that deceiving Dixon is the only way to keep her in line and willing to represent the Mother Paula’s corporation. However, note that she does elbow Muckle aside and seem to genuinely want to hear what Roy has to say. She and Roy’s friends, it seems, are the only ones willing to stand up to Muckle and seek out the truth.
Themes
By now, kids are chanting, and Beatrice’s teammates are displaying signs that read “Mother Paula doesn’t give a hoot about owls” and “Bird killers go home!” As Kimberly Lou Dixon says she doesn’t want to hurt owls, Chuck Muckle snatches the megaphone and tells Roy to get his facts straight: there aren’t owls here. Roy says he has proof and pulls out the camera. Muckle’s face turns gray. Roy scrolls through the photos Mullet Fingers took, his heart sinking. Most of them are of fingers or a bare foot. Finally, Roy gets to one that’s clearly an owl, though it’s barely identifiable as such. He offers the camera to Muckle, who insists it’s a lump of mud. Several people look at the photo, but Roy can tell that nobody believes him.
Muckle’s suddenly gray face is telling: if he didn’t already know there are owls on the site, he at least knows that proof of owls means he can’t build here. That Roy is able to cause this kind of reaction in Muckle highlights how much power he has, even as a kid. All it takes, the novel suggests, is knowing what the law is and how to make a legal but loud fuss about those who aren’t complying to effect change. Unfortunately for Roy, the photos themselves aren’t especially useful—but still, this may pique enough interest that better photographers might swoop in to save the day.
Themes
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Chuck Muckle thanks the crowd for coming and for being patient. He promises to be back in the spring for breakfast. But a voice says this isn’t over. Roy, Beatrice, and the crowd look to the voice, which is coming from a head sticking out of the ground. It’s Mullet Fingers, whose body is squeezed into an owl burrow and who has a string in his mouth. The string is tied to a big tin bucket nearby. Smiling at the adults, Mullet Fingers says if they’re going to bury the birds, they’ll have to bury him too. Kimberly Lou Dixon says again she doesn’t want to hurt birds as Muckle commands Officer Delinko to arrest Mullet Fingers. Officer Delinko mildly notes that this is a public event; he can’t arrest Mullet Fingers without arresting everyone else, too.
Mullet Fingers takes Roy’s protest to another level by squeezing himself into an owl hole and refusing to move. He draws on a rich history of sit-ins (as, for instance, during the Civil Rights movement) and other forms of peaceful yet physical protest as he does this. Officer Delinko turns into an unlikely ally as he refuses to arrest Mullet Fingers. Delinko, for his part, now cares about the owls more than he cares about helping the Mother Paula’s corporation get ahead. And as an officer, he too knows how to use the law to his advantage and give Mullet Fingers and Roy a boost.
Themes
Enraged, Chuck Muckle says he’ll speak to the captain about Officer Delinko. Turning to Curly, he asks the foreman to dig Mullet Fingers up. Mullet Fingers says that’s not a good idea and asks Roy to peek in the bucket. Though Roy realizes the snakes in the bucket are rubber, he says the cottonmouth moccasins in the bucket look angry. When Curly continues to refuse to move Mullet Fingers, Muckle fires him. Delinko refuses to shoot the snakes and instead approaches Mullet Fingers. Mullet Fingers responds with “no comment” as Delinko asks if Mullet Fingers painted his car, ran from the hospital, and left the shirt on his cruiser. When the officer asks to look in the bucket, Mullet Fingers says it’s his funeral. Roy hisses to Beatrice that the snakes aren’t real—but Officer Delinko tells Muckle to negotiate with Mullet Fingers. The snakes, he says, are real.
Perhaps emboldened by realizing how many people support the owls, Delinko and even Curly continue to position themselves as allies to the cause. Muckle’s intimidation and bullying is no longer working for him—offering hope that the pro-owl contingency will prevail. Since Delinko has been annoyed with Mullet Fingers for some time and seems to realize he’s finally found the real vandal, it’s significant that he plays along with the fake snakes here. This speaks to how much Delinko supports the cause, and it suggests that he's decided it’s more important to fight for the owls than it is to arrest Mullet Fingers for petty crimes (which Mullet Fingers carried out for a good cause).
Themes
Even angrier now, Chuck Muckle says he doesn’t negotiate with kids. He picks up his shovel, races forward, and begins hacking at the bucket’s contents. He doesn’t stop until the rubber snakes are in pieces and the reporters have gotten lots of humiliating pictures of him. Curly marvels that the snakes are fake as Muckle points his shovel at Mullet Fingers. Roy leaps between Muckle and Mullet Fingers. As Muckle threatens to make Curly get the backhoe, Beatrice, Garrett and his skating friends, the soccer team, and every other kid in attendance joins him and links arms to protect Mullet Fingers. A cameraman announces that the protest is being broadcast live, while photographers get pictures of Muckle’s distraught face. As adults drift away, Beatrice leads the kids in singing “This Land Is Your Land.”
Muckle creates some awful publicity for himself and for the company by losing his temper and threatening to hurt Mullet Fingers—this behavior cuts into the Mother Paula’s corporation’s family-friendly image. It also may buy Roy and Mullet Fingers more time to prove that the company is doing something illegal by trying to build on active burrows. And importantly, Roy and his friends don’t really have to do much to elicit this kind of a reaction. As Delinko noted earlier, none of them are doing anything illegal—so Muckle looks unhinged and untrustworthy, and his company’s illegal attempts to develop are exposed.
Themes
Shockingly, Kimberly Lou Dixon asks to join and squeezes in between Roy and Garrett. The protest goes on for another hour. More news crews arrive, as do more police officers—who refuse Chuck Muckle’s demand that they cuff a bunch of middle school kids. Things only get strange when Lonna Leep shows up after spotting Mullet Fingers on the news. She’s dressed like she’s at a party and tells reporters that she’s so proud of her brave son. Beatrice tells the circle of kids to not let Lonna through to Mullet Fingers, and the standoff only ends when Garrett makes a loud fake fart noise. Just then, a small owl dives into the middle of the circle, landing on Mullet Fingers’s head. Mullet Fingers assures the owl it’s safe.
As a celebrity, Dixon can add some pizazz and name recognition to Roy and his classmates’ protest. Lonna’s attempt to make it seems like everything is fine between her and Mullet Fingers is clearly a bid for attention; her son is only useful to her as long as he can help her achieve fame and fortune. The owl’s appearance, meanwhile, makes it impossible to ignore that there are indeed burrowing owls on the construction site. It also shows the protesting kids exactly what they’re fighting for, which may help keep the momentum going.
Themes
