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Chapter 20
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
The next morning, Roy and Mrs. Eberhardt clip photos and articles out of the newspaper and discover Mullet Fingers’s real name: Napoleon Bridger. Roy says Mullet Fingers is back with Leon and Lonna for now, at least. At the protest, the uninformed police officers let Lonna close to her son, and a picture of her hugging him made the front page. Mrs. Eberhardt suggests that Lonna and Mullet Fingers’s relationship might improve, but Roy says she’s just using her son to get on TV. Before Roy leaves for school, Mrs. Eberhardt says, Mr. Eberhardt wants to see him. She assures Roy he’s not in trouble; he and Beatrice didn’t break laws or hurt anyone yesterday. They just stood up for what’s right and Mr. Eberhardt respects that.
Roy seems to find his mom’s hope for Mullet Fingers and Lonna’s relationship understandable but totally unrealistic. He fully realizes that not all kids have such supportive parents like he does, and he’s seen firsthand that the Leep parents are particularly unsupportive and even dangerous. However, Mrs. Eberhardt does show readers again how she and her husband have prepared Roy to be independent. They’ve taught him to be moral and to know that he can ask for help—which allows Roy to confidently make his own choices, such as to fight for the owls.
Themes
Roy asks if Mother Paula’s is still going to build the pancake house. Mrs. Eberhardt doesn’t know, but she shares that Chuck Muckle strangled a reporter after Roy went back to school. She says she and Mr. Eberhardt had to disconnect the phone already this morning to escape the reporters, but Roy shouldn’t feel bad—she’s making a scrapbook to show Roy’s kids and grandkids. Privately, Roy thinks he’d rather show them the owls. Just then, Mr. Eberhardt asks Roy to get the door. The woman on the steps introduces herself as Kelly Colfax, a reporter. Noticing the bruises on her neck, Roy figures she’s the one Chuck Muckle tried to choke. Roy doesn’t want to be rude, but he doesn’t want to talk, either. He finally says that he just wanted to stand up for the owls.
As Roy sees it, his mom is prioritizing the wrong thing. The protest itself is beside the point, though hopefully it’ll make a difference and stop the construction project. But the real goal, to Roy, is saving the owls and their habitat—both because the owls deserve to live, and because this will allow future generations of Floridians to admire and get excited about them, too. That Muckle choked this reporter draws a connection between the reporter and Roy, whom Dana choked earlier. It helps establish her as a trustworthy person, even if Roy doesn’t exactly want to chat.
Themes
Mr. Eberhardt appears behind Roy and asks for a word with his son. Closing the front door, Mr. Eberhardt tells Roy he doesn’t have to say anything to the reporters—but he should give Kelly Colfax this. He offers Roy a folder, which Roy deduces is the file from City Hall that he couldn’t check out earlier this week. Mr. Eberhardt explains that he checked it out, copied every page, and took them to environmental lawyers. The Mother Paula’s corporation didn’t have the appropriate permit. Roy asks why his dad wants this file to go to the reporter instead of the Justice Department. Mr. Eberhardt tells Roy that there’s a very important file missing from the stack.
Note how Mr. Eberhardt handles giving Roy advice. He makes it clear that Roy is the one who gets to choose to talk to Kelly or not—he’s not going to step in and force her to go away, even if Roy is uncomfortable. The implication is that while he sees Roy as capable, Roy can always ask for help if he needs it. Then, the revelation that Mr. Eberhardt has been working behind the scenes to help the owls helps Roy feel even more supported. It also explains why Mr. Eberhardt was so keen for Roy to go to the groundbreaking yesterday: he knew his son was right.
Themes
Roy opens the door again with a smile and hands Kelly Colfax the file. He explains that the Environmental Impact Statement is missing—which means either that Mother Paula’s didn’t file one, or they lost it on purpose. She hugs the folder and thanks Roy, but Roy tells her to thank Mr. Eberhardt. Clearly, he cares about the owls too.
In turning the files over to the media, Mr. Eberhardt shows that he knows how powerful public opinion can be. It’s one thing for the Justice Department to step in and prosecute, but it’s another thing for newspapers and the evening news to call out the Mother Paula’s corporation. A robust media, Mr. Eberhardt implies, is another important factor in keeping greedy corporations in line.
Themes
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