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Chapter 6: Friends
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Simple Gift, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Riches and Poverty
Redemption
Love and Family
Rules and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
The shadows. Friday morning before school, Caitlin knocks quietly on the door of Billy’s train car. He doesn’t answer and then she hears voices from the next car. Worried that he may have been discovered and gotten into trouble, she creeps around back. In the next car, she sees Billy serving breakfast to an old man she doesn’t recognize (Old Bill). She watches Billy help Old Bill outside into the sunshine and Old Bill thanking Billy. Then she takes off running.
This poem describes Caitlin’s first sight of Old Bill. And while she’s comfortable with the idea that Billy lives on the margins of society, something about Old Bill discomforts her. She witnesses a particularly intimate moment between the two as they share breakfast; throughout this book the sharing of meals often represents the closeness of a relationship.
Themes
The afternoon off. Caitlin runs all the way to school. She feels foolish for running away and she spends the morning trying to figure out why she had done it. She thinks that maybe seeing Billy with “that old hobo” made her confront the fact of how he lives—as an unhoused person—more than seeing his train car or watching him steal food at the McDonald’s. She feels ashamed of her horror and worries that maybe she’s more of a spoiled rich girl than she wants to believe. So, after school, she walks back down the tracks, determined not to run away again.
At this point in the book, Billy’s relationship with the word “hobo” has changed—his pervasive sense of freedom and autonomy as well as his deepening relationship with Old Bill (which allows him to see the man behind the unkempt hair and ratty clothes) make him more comfortable owning the title for himself. Caitlin, in contrast, uses it in a clearly pejorative way. But, thanks in part to her friendship with Billy, she recognizes the ways in which her initial reaction is problematic, and she decides to confront her biases and fears directly.
Themes
In the sunshine. When Caitlin arrives at the Freight Yard, she finds Billy sitting in the sun reading a book. He offers her a pillow to sit on and pours her some coffee from his thermos. He’s reading The Grapes of Wrath, which he tells Caitlin explores “the honor of poverty.” As she listens, her shame over her earlier feelings and her determination to sit with Billy in the sunshine grow.
In this poem, the sunshine seems to symbolize enlightenment. Billy reads books in the sun, expanding his own knowledge and understanding. And he teaches Caitlin about the things he reads in these books, including an argument that poverty itself can be noble. This exchange confirms Caitlin’s determination to overcome her instinctive reaction of disgust toward Old Bill.
Themes
A man. Ashamed of her earlier horror, Caitlin invites both Billy and Old Bill to dinner at her house that evening. Billy expresses delight at his friend’s inclusion, and he tells Caitlin Old Bill’s story. Caitlin thinks about running away and decides that, at just 16, Billy is already a “man” while she is still a “schoolgirl.”
Caitlin’s determination to overcome her initial response toward Old Bill plays an important part in his redemption story. Now it’s not just a fellow “hobo” who recognizes and affirms his humanity but a privileged girl from the town. In her reflections, Caitlin also acknowledges how her privileged childhood has left her underprepared to face the realities of life, unlike Billy.
Themes
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Cooking, and eating. Caitlin hates cooking—touching raw meat, the tedious process of peeling and cutting vegetables—so she does the prep work for dinner as quickly as possible, throwing ingredients for a curry into a pot and leaving it to simmer while she chooses special bottles from her father’s wine cellar. Then, she puts on quiet music and has a bath, forgetting the horror of having to cook and starting to look forward to eating. As much as she hates cooking, she loves eating.
Because Caitlin hates cooking, her offer to share a homemade meal with Billy and Old Bill takes on an even greater significance as an act of respect—conferring human dignity on Old Bill—and love—demonstrating the regard and affection she has for Billy. And because shared meals in this novel usually represent the emotional intimacy of friendship, it’s likely that this contributes to her enjoyment of eating.
Themes
The moon. Billy and Old Bill arrive for dinner, scrubbed and cleaned up so much that Caitlin almost can’t help but laugh at the idea of “the two neatest hobos” she’s ever seen. Old Bill presents Caitlin with a box of chocolates as Billy sees the opened bottles of wine and proposes a toast to “the richest house in Bendarat.” Caitlin notices how good dinner smells, as Old Bill wanders, as awestruck as if he’d landed on the dark side of the moon, though the massive house.
Caitlin again uses the word “hobos” to describe Billy and Old Bill, but already its valence has shifted. No longer does it feel like a pejorative label; indeed, she recognizes the incongruity of their clean presentation with their rough lifestyles. Thus, she offers a pointed reminder that one shouldn’t judge a person by their circumstances or appearances (especially since she doesn’t yet know Old Bill’s tragic back story) but by their character. Billy’s ironic toast to the house highlights yet again how lacking in intimacy this home has been for Caitlin, a situation that begins to change as soon as she invites her guests inside.
Themes
Stories. The trio sit on the floor near the fireplace to eat their dinner and drink a pleasant amount of wine. And they talk. Caitlin and Billy plan future dates; Caitlin shares school gossip and complains about rules and work; Billy talks about skipping school to read books by the creek and Irene Thompson’s kindness. Old Bill sips wine and listens to the teenagers with a quiet smile on his face.
The table where Caitlin usually shares meals with her family is too clean and formal for this gathering, reminding readers of the formal and distant relationship she shares with her parents. Instead, she trades the markers of privilege (a nice house and a fancy table setting) for the ease of a casual meal on the floor. While they eat, Billy and Caitlin talk unselfconsciously. By inviting Old Bill to join them, they continue to rebuild his sense of human dignity.
Themes
Simple gift. After dinner, Old Bill graciously thanks Caitlin for the meal, then he shakes hers and Billy’s hands and bids them goodnight. While he walks home through the soft evening, enjoying the subtle buzz of the fine wine, he thinks about how Billy and Caitlin looked at each other. And he realizes that, for a few hours, the only thing he’d thought about was how pleasant it was to be in the company of others. As he walks home, he relishes thinking of ways to repay this simple, but priceless, gift.
Old Bill’s manners—like Billy’s—belie the idea of the rude, uncivilized “hobo.” Neither man lives fully according to society’s rules, but that doesn’t mean they’ve devolved to an animalistic state. On his walk home, he realizes that, by inviting him to join them, Caitlin and Billy have treated him as more of a human being than he’s felt in a long time. Slowly, their care and affection continues to rebuild the sense of importance and direction he lost with the death of his daughter and wife.
Themes
Making love. After Old Bill leaves, Billy and Caitlin have sex. To Billy, it feels as exhilarating as diving headfirst into the cool, clear, and deep waters of the Bendarat River. He’s disappointed when the rush fades away, and he wishes he could stay in the feeling of floating under the water with Caitlin, insulated from everything else in the world, forever.
Billy experiences sex with Caitlin as a deeply satisfying; this contrasts with the description that Kate provided earlier. In this way, the book suggests the importance of mutual affection and trust as a bond in romantic relationships.
Themes
My other life. Caitlin and Billy fall asleep together in Caitlin’s childhood bed. When they wake up, they make love again. Then she looks around the room, surveying the clutter of pillows, makeup, and posters on the wall. Her school uniform hangs from a hook, reminding her of her the old life she’d forgotten for a few hours the night before.
Caitlin’s first experience with sex also contrasts sharply with Kate’s earlier disappointing report. But while Billy’s reflections focused on their sense of emotional intimacy, sex makes Caitlin feel more acutely how little value her material possessions have compared to meaningful, loving relationships.
Themes
Monday. Early one Monday morning, Billy wakes up to someone other than Caitlin knocking on his door. He’s startled and afraid it might be the police, but it’s just Old Bill bringing him breakfast and coffee. Old Bill gently teases Billy about sleeping in so late—it’s 9:00! Billy starts to laugh, and Old Bill joins in.
Many of the dynamics in the relationships between Billy, Old Bill, and Caitlin shifted as a result of their shared dinner. As Old Bill begins to feel a renewed sense of purpose in his life, he starts to take on a greater caretaking role with Billy, becoming more and more of a father figure. Bringing breakfast to the teenager exemplifies this shift.
Themes
Tell the world. Monday morning at school, Caitlin wants very badly to tell Kate and Petra about her weekend and having sex with Billy. But she doesn’t want it to seem like she’s trying to compete with Kate’s bad sexual experience. And she’s not quite ready to admit how badly she wants it to happen again, or that she found someone she trusts and feels safe with while she was mopping the floors at McDonald’s. At least not yet. Not until she’s sure of her feelings herself.
In reflecting on her experiences with Billy over the weekend, Caitlin emphasizes the importance of trust and intimacy in their friendship as the key to satisfaction in their first sexual encounters together. Her thoughts reiterate the book’s claims that meaningful relationships grow from mutuality, intimacy, and trust. Choosing Billy despite the differences in their lives also shows how Caitlin takes more and more personal responsibility for creating the life she wants to live, regardless of familial or social expectations.
Themes
Share. Sometimes, Caitlin packs food from home into her bag before she goes to work so that she can give it to Billy. At first, he refuses. But when she reminds him that it comes from “the richest house in Bendarat,” he accepts it for himself and to share with Old Bill.
Food continues to be a means of confirming the intimacy of relationships, in this case between Billy and Caitlin. Caitlin shares her family’s excess of resources with Billy, demonstrating the value of relationships over possessions. But this also provides an ongoing (if lowkey) reminder that Billy’s life remains somewhat precarious.
Themes
Billy, dancing. Billy spends five dollars on candles and then works all day on collecting enough things to stand them in. He lights one and drips wax into the bottom of all his vessels to hold the candles steady then places all 24 of them around the inside of his train car. They throw dancing shadows on the wall as he makes his bed and eagerly waits for Caitlin, imagining how she will look in the candlelight.
This poem again proves that money can’t buy the truly meaningful things in life like love and respect. Billy puts a very small investment of money (and a larger investment of time) toward a romantic gesture that will show Caitlin how important she has become to him.
Themes
Heaven. To Caitlin, stepping into the candlelit train car and seeing Billy’s proud smile feels like stepping into heaven. She closes the door and goes to him on the bed, where they have sex and lie together for hours.
Caitlin receives Billy’s simple gift of the romantic candlelight in the spirit in which it was offered—it shows how unimportant money and possessions are compared to meaningful relationships.
Themes
The clink of the bottles. Old Bill watches Billy kissing Caitlin goodbye on the railroad tracks before walking her home. After an hour, Billy returns, carrying a plastic bag full of clinking bottles that turn out to be non-alcoholic ginger beer, much to Old Bill’s consternation. He swears, but he also laughs and admires Billy’s choice. He sips the soft drink and thinks that maybe, for Billy’s sake, he’ll try to drink a little less.
Old Bill’s renewed hopefulness derives both from watching the blossoming love between Billy and Caitlin and from the growing intimacy he shares with Billy. Each one—Billy and Old Bill—feels solicitous towards the other, and each one acts protectively towards the other. Billy does this by slowly encouraging Old Bill to stop drinking—encouragement which Old Bill has become willing to receive.
Themes
