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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Walk Two Moons, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling
Parents, Children, and Growing Up
Grief
Nature
Summary
Analysis
Back in the car with Gram and Gramps, Gramps suddenly pulls off the freeway to rest in Madison, Wisconsin. Gram says she feels sorry for Mrs. Winterbottom. She says that being a mother “is like trying to hold a wolf by the ears.” It’s hard to have lots of kids, but it’s also hard to have only one or two. Gramps finally finds a parking space. He doesn’t have change for the parking meter, so he writes a note about being a World War II veteran with German shrapnel in his leg and leaves it on the dash. Sal ascertains that Gramps doesn’t actually have shrapnel in his leg. Dad has called her “gullible” before.
Gram feels empathy for Mrs. Winterbottom because she understands how difficult it can be a parent, and she makes sense of this by comparing it to nature. Her comment that it’s hard to have only one or two kids calls back to Sal’s observation that her own parents wanted lots of children but only had one—here, Gram unknowingly confirms that this was probably hard on them.
Themes
Gram keeps saying, “Huzza, huzza!” as she, Gramps, and Sal walk around Madison. They get sandwiches, ice cream, and blueberry muffins. Sal hears the voice telling her “rush, hurry, rush,” but Gram asks Sal if she wants to send postcards. Sal doesn’t. Momma sent her postcards from all along this route. The final postcard came from Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and arrived two days after Sal and Dad learned that Momma wasn’t coming back.
Sal and her grandparents are figuratively walking in Momma’s footsteps as they travel across the country, but Sal doesn’t want to repeat Momma’s trip beat for beat. She again implies that something traumatic happened during Momma’s trip, which makes the postcards painful for Sal to think about.
Themes
Finally, Gramps says it’s time to get back on the road. But not long after they get back in the car, Gramps pulls off in the Wisconsin Dells to take a nap. Gram and Sal explore an old fort and then watch some Native Americans dance with drums. Sal explains that Momma didn’t like the term “Native Americans.” It sounded stiff to her, and she always said she was proud to be an Indian. Sal agrees with Momma. She lies back and listens to the drums.
Given Momma’s stories about Sal’s Pickford grandparents, it follows that Momma would dislike “Native Americans” because it sounds too formal. Instead, Momma wanted to be lighthearted and free-spirited, like the Hiddles. In this way, both Momma and Sal frame “stiffness” as something they must work to move away from—instead, both mother and daughter want to connect with nature in a raw, uninhibited way.
Themes
When Sal opens her eyes, Gram is gone. Sal panics, thinking Gram and Gramps left her. She pushes through the crowd and finds signs for three different parking areas. Finally, as Sal pushes through the crowd, she realizes that Gram is dancing in the very center of the Native Americans.
Although Sal is afraid that Gram and Gramps have left her, this doesn’t seem likely to happen—after all, she and her grandparents are very close. Instead, her fear is likely rooted in her lingering trauma over Momma leaving.
Themes
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