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The Emergency
Kate’s bucket symbolizes her stubborn self-reliance, which hinders her ability to work as part of a team. Kate fills her red bucket with any survival tool she could possibly need, including a magnet, a bag of marbles, and a spyglass disguised as a kaleidoscope. Kate solves most of Mr. Benedict’s tests with the help of her bucket and its contents, and all of her tools help the Mysterious Benedict Society in their adventures. The bucket’s usefulness is precisely what makes it problematic for Kate. She carries everything she might need on her person, so as far as she’s concerned, she never needs to ask for help. At the end of the novel, she recognizes this as her fatal flaw—she is so desperate to prove herself that she refuses to request help, even when she is out of her depth. Kate clings to her bucket throughout the story, just as she clings to her image of self-sufficiency. Even when she and Constance are being chased by Executives, Kate risks both girls’ safety to retrieve her bucket after it falls. When Kate finally learns to put her friends before her pride, she lets herself fall down a rope so that her weight can propel Constance to safety, in an image that mirrors this selfish moment with the bucket.
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Kate’s Bucket Symbol Timeline in The Mysterious Benedict Society
The timeline below shows where the symbol Kate’s Bucket appears in The Mysterious Benedict Society. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...awkwardness is ended when the door bursts open and a blond girl with a red bucket races into the room. Sticky jumps, asking what the girl is running from. She explains...
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Reynie asks what Kate’s bucket is for. She explains that it is for carrying things, and she opens it up...
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Chapter 3
...in the other room and watch while Kate completes the test. Using tools from her bucket, she fashions a tightrope and expertly lassoes it on the handle of the opposite door....
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Chapter 28
...and she sees that his spectacles fell on the floor. She manages to reach her bucket and withdraw her horseshoe magnet. She pulls the spectacles over with the magnet and brings...
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Chapter 31
...and finds an elevator. Using it would be too conspicuous, so she climbs onto her bucket, unscrews the ceiling maintenance panel, and climbs up into the elevator shaft.
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Chapter 32
...Jackson holds up the marble Kate threw last night, and he demands to search Kate’s bucket for more marbles. Kate obliges, but her marbles and slingshot are not in the bucket....
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Chapter 35
...keeps running up a hill, but once she reaches a stone wall, Kate drops her bucket. Kate can’t stand to lose the bucket, so she runs back for it, giving up...
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Once she retrieves her bucket, Kate starts to climb the ladder with Constance still on her back. They climb over...
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Chapter 36
...his friend’s idiosyncrasies. He insists that he needs to polish his spectacles and fetch his bucket, and he recites one of Constance’s rude rhymes. Constance herself appears in the window, demanding...
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