Tuck Everlasting: Chapter Ten Summary & Analysis

The narrator explains that Winnie has grown up in a house that's orderly and clean. Winnie's mother and Granny are always cleaning, and they're training Winnie to live the same way. Because of this, the Tucks' house is a bit of a shock for her. There's dust, cobwebs, and a mouse that lives happily in a drawer in the table. Dishes are stacked haphazardly, and things are piled everywhere. Angus's forgotten shotgun sits in a corner. In the parlor, there's a sofa and some tables, and there's lots of old soot in the fireplace. There's a bedroom with a rickety bed and a loft where Jesse and Miles sleep when they're home.

Though Mae says after giving Winnie the tour that this is all, Winnie sees so much more. She notices bits of Mae's sewing projects everywhere, while there are pins and needles stuck in the arms of the chairs. Angus carves toys and bowls out of wood, so there are wood shavings and toy parts everywhere. The bright light from the windows spotlights bowls of daisies and the sound of the wildlife that lives in and around the pond filters through as well. Winnie is amazed that people live like this, but she finds it charming and comfortable. She wonders to herself if the Tucks think they have forever to clean up, but then considers that maybe they just don't care about the mess.

In the loft, Mae explains that Jesse and Miles aren't home much. Winnie asks what they do when they're gone, and Mae says they get jobs. Miles can do carpentry and blacksmithing, while Jesse is so young that he can't settle. Mae laughs, and then says that he just does whatever he feels like at any given moment. She sighs and says that none of them can stay in one place for too long, as people start to wonder. Mae explains that she and Angus have been in this house for twenty years and they'll need to move soon.

Winnie thinks that moving all the time and not having close friends sounds sad, and she tells Mae this. Mae says that she and Angus have each other, though she notes that Jesse and Miles struggle. Every ten years, they meet at the spring and come home together so they can all be a family again. Mae folds her arms and says, mostly to herself, that life has to be lived and they have to take what comes along. She says that most of the time, she even forgets what happened and usually doesn't feel any different, but sometimes she does wonder why it happened to them. Mae can't decide if it's a blessing or a curse, or what they did to deserve it either way. Jesse and Miles interrupt as they climb up to the loft, soaking wet and still in their clothes.