Caretaking Theme Analysis

In “Raymond’s Run,” Squeaky is responsible for looking after her disabled older brother, Raymond, despite being a child herself. While her family’s expectation that she will care for Raymond gives Squeaky a sense of pride and identity, it’s also overwhelming: she is constantly fighting with and insulting Raymond’s bullies (which puts her at odds with her peers), and whenever Raymond gets into trouble, Squeaky’s family blames her. Meanwhile, nobody seems to be caring for Squeaky. Her parents and teachers are largely absent, and when they do appear, they often undermine her sense of security and self-worth. Neither Squeaky’s intense care for Raymond nor her parents’ failure to care for her is an ideal model for caretaking, but the story suggests definitively that it’s better to relate to others with care than with hostility or neglect. In the end, Squeaky’s relationship with Raymond becomes a model for her relationships with others, helping her to adopt a more positive and caring attitude.

Despite being a child, Squeaky has a tremendous amount of responsibility, as she is her disabled brother’s primary caretaker. Squeaky clearly loves Raymond, whom she is seemingly expected to look after each day while her parents are busy. She defends Raymond against neighborhood kids with “smart mouths” who often ridicule Raymond for his “big head” and his erratic behavior (he’s “subject to fits of fantasy”). Squeaky adopts a tough persona in order to defend him, and she is proud of this toughness. Taking care of her brother in this way gives Squeaky a sense of purpose, even at a young age—she’s quick to point out that Raymond is safer with her than he had been in the past, when their brother George was in charge of caring for him. But caring for Raymond, who is older and bigger than her, is undeniably hard on Squeaky: when Raymond has “fits” and aggravates their neighbors, Squeaky is the one who must subdue him and apologize on his behalf. And if Raymond acts out of line—sloshing around in the gutter and getting his clothes wet, for instance—Squeaky is the one who “get[s] hit when [she] gets home.” It’s clear that Squeaky is forced to take on far more responsibility as Raymond’s caregiver than is fair for a girl her age.

But while Squeaky displays responsibility and maturity beyond her years in caring for Raymond, none of the adults in Squeaky’s life take good care of her. Squeaky’s parents are notably absent from the story. They appear primarily in her recollections, typically in instances when they have failed to understand her or declined to show her support. Her mother, for example, “thinks it’s a shame” that Squeaky doesn’t participate in the May Pole dancing (ignoring Squeaky’s vehemence about not wanting to dance), yet she does not show up at the track race—the activity at the center of Squeaky’s identity—to cheer Squeaky on. Furthermore, while Squeaky’s father occasionally runs with her (thereby affirming and participating in her passion), even this support is limited. They conduct this father-daughter ritual in secret, which Squeaky interprets as a sign that he’s not proud of her skill but is instead embarrassed to be “a thirty-five-year-old man stuffing himself in PAL shorts to race little kids.”

Beyond her parents, other adults in her life fail Squeaky. For instance, her teacher Mr. Pearson—who organizes the May Day track meet—actively tries to undermine the pride Squeaky takes in running. Squeaky has won this event for the past several years, and she expects this year to be no different. But rather than celebrating her talent and hard work, Mr. Pearson cruelly insinuates that it would unfair for Squeaky to win again, and he seems also to blame the race’s poor turnout on the fact that Squeaky is participating. Mr. Pearson, a runner himself, is presumably someone who might nurture Squeaky’s passion. Instead, his comments leave her so “burnt” that she can only stomp away and prepare for the race on her own. The way in which adults in Squeaky’s life treat her shows that she is continuously neglected, unsupported, and misunderstood—a stark contrast to the level of care that Squeaky provides for Raymond.

Despite the repeated failure of parents, teachers, and other adults to nurture and care for Squeaky, the story ends with a moment of profound optimism, as Squeaky begins to understand caretaking as a model for good relationships. As Squeaky runs the race, she sees Raymond running on the sidelines, which makes her realize that Raymond could be “a great runner in the family tradition” if she were to coach him. This idea is so powerful that Squeaky loses interest in the competition itself, which was previously her central concern. She no longer cares if she won or lost the race, because she realizes that it might be more fulfilling to “retire as a runner and begin a whole new career as a coach with Raymond as my champion.” This signals a major shift for Squeaky; she now understands that she would rather help someone else succeed than continue to worry about her own achievements.

This realization of the value of caretaking carries over to Squeaky’s relationship with a classmate named Gretchen, which has been hostile and competitive throughout the story. As Squeaky thinks about helping Raymond run, she finds herself smiling at Gretchen, and she realizes that their shared passion for running could be a point of common interest rather than fuel for competition. In a moment of epiphany, Squeaky fantasizes that she and Gretchen could actually unite and coach Raymond together, showing her shift to a more cooperative and compassionate attitude toward others. In this way, Squeaky’s relationship with Raymond—a relationship of care, compassion, and cooperation—becomes a model for Squeaky’s other relationships, even with her most bitter rival. By realizing how fulfilling it is to care for Raymond, Squeaky is able to stop emulating the competition and neglect that surround her and instead choose to be supportive and helpful moving forward.