Walk Two Moons

by

Sharon Creech

Sal’s father and Momma’s husband is someone Sal describes as kind, generous, and simple. He was raised by two eccentric parents, Gram and Gramps, and he loves being a farmer and touching “real” things, like the dirt, plants, and animals around their land. Dad finds joy in simple pleasures and is an excellent gift-giver—throughout Sal’s childhood, he regularly brings gifts for her and for Momma that Sal says are the exact things she would’ve chosen for herself. Dad’s kindness and generosity caused some problems in his relationship with Momma: she believes that Momma wanted to keep up with him and match his generosity, but she didn’t have the knack for gift-giving that he did. And ultimately, Dad’s goodness became something that Momma resented, as she feared she’d never be as good as he was. Sal suggests that this was one of the reasons that Momma left on a bus trip for Lewiston, along with the fact that Dad and Momma’s second child was stillborn. To deal with his emotions when Momma left, Dad began chipping away at a plaster wall in their farmhouse, behind which he discovered a hidden fireplace. When Dad got the news that Momma died in a bus accident, he didn’t take Sal with him to Lewiston. This becomes a point of contention for Sal—she resents that he didn’t take her, and she resents that while he was there, he grew close with Margaret Cadaver (who, unbeknownst to Sal, sat next to Momma on the bus trip). Margaret helps Dad get a job in Euclid, and the novel begins with Sal and Dad moving to Euclid because staying on the farm is too painful for Dad; it seems like Momma is “haunting” the farm. Dad is mostly a distant (and sometimes, detested) presence in Sal’s life while she and Dad are in Euclid. She hates that he spends so much time with Margaret, as she believes he’s moving on from Momma—but Sal also won’t let him explain how he met Margaret or why she’s important to him. Sal often finds Dad crying or otherwise grieving openly for Momma, however. After Sal’s road trip to Lewiston with Gram and Gramps, Dad moves back to the farm with Sal—a sign that he, like Sal, has found closure after his wife’s death.

Dad Quotes in Walk Two Moons

The Walk Two Moons quotes below are all either spoken by Dad or refer to Dad. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

Tiny, squirt trees. Little birdhouses in a row—and one of those birdhouses was ours. No swimming hole, no barn, no cows, no chickens, no pigs. Instead, a little white house with a miniature patch of green grass in front of it. It wasn’t enough grass to keep a cow alive for five minutes.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

Just then, she came in from the back porch. My father put his arms around her and they smooched and it was all tremendously romantic, and I started to turn away, but my mother caught my arm. She pulled me to her and said to me—though it was meant for my father, I think—“See, I’m almost as good as your father!” She said it in a shy way, laughing a little. I felt betrayed, but I didn’t know why.

It is surprising all the things you remember just by eating a blackberry pie.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Mrs. Winterbottom
Related Symbols: Blackberries
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

My long hair floated all around me. My mother’s hair had been long and black, like mine, but a week before she left, she cut it. My father said to me, “Don’t cut yours, Sal. Please don’t cut yours.”

My mother said, “I knew you wouldn’t like it if I cut mine.”

My father said, “I didn’t say anything about yours.”

“But I know what you’re thinking,” she said.

“I loved your hair, Sugar,” he said.

I saved her hair. I swept it up from the kitchen floor and wrapped it in a plastic bag and hid it beneath the floorboards of my room. It was still there, along with the postcards she sent.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle (speaker), Dad (speaker), Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: Hair
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

The morning after my father learned that my mother was not coming back, he left for Lewiston, Idaho. Gram and Gramps came to stay with me. I had pleaded to go along, but my father said he didn’t think I should have to go through that. That day I climbed up into the maple and watched the singing tree, waiting for it to sing. I stayed there all day and on into the early evening. It did not sing.

At dusk, Gramps placed three sleeping bags at the foot of the tree, and he, Gram, and I slept there all night. The tree did not sing.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: The Singing Tree
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

“But for now,” he said, “we have to leave because your mother is haunting me day and night. She’s in the fields, the air, the barn, the walls, the trees.”

Related Characters: Dad (speaker), Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle, Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle
Related Symbols: Blackberries
Page Number: 104-05
Explanation and Analysis:

On that long day that my father and I left the farm behind and drove to Euclid, I wished that my father was not such a good man, so there would be someone to blame for my mother’s leaving. I didn’t want to blame her. She was my mother, and she was part of me.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

And just like Phoebe, who had waved her mother’s sweater in front of her father, I had brought a chicken in from the coop: Would Mom leave her favorite chicken?” I demanded. “She loves this chicken.”

What I really meant was, “How can she not come back to me? She loves me.”

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“So you didn’t leave Gramps just because of the cussing?”

“Salamanca, I don’t even remember why I did that. Sometimes you know in your heart you love someone, but you have to go away before your head can figure it out.”

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Gram (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gramps
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 26 Quotes

It went on and on like that. I hated her that day. I didn’t care how upset she was about her mother, I really hated her, and I wanted her to leave. I wondered if this was how my father felt when I threw all those temper tantrums. Maybe he hated me for a while.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Page Number: 155
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 44 Quotes

Lately, I’ve been wondering if there might be something hidden behind the fireplace, because just as the fireplace was behind the plaster wall and my mother’s story was behind Phoebe’s, I think there was a third story behind Phoebe’s and my mother’s, and that was about Gram and Gramps.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Related Symbols: The Fireplace
Page Number: 254
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Walk Two Moons LitChart as a printable PDF.
Walk Two Moons PDF

Dad Quotes in Walk Two Moons

The Walk Two Moons quotes below are all either spoken by Dad or refer to Dad. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

Tiny, squirt trees. Little birdhouses in a row—and one of those birdhouses was ours. No swimming hole, no barn, no cows, no chickens, no pigs. Instead, a little white house with a miniature patch of green grass in front of it. It wasn’t enough grass to keep a cow alive for five minutes.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

Just then, she came in from the back porch. My father put his arms around her and they smooched and it was all tremendously romantic, and I started to turn away, but my mother caught my arm. She pulled me to her and said to me—though it was meant for my father, I think—“See, I’m almost as good as your father!” She said it in a shy way, laughing a little. I felt betrayed, but I didn’t know why.

It is surprising all the things you remember just by eating a blackberry pie.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Mrs. Winterbottom
Related Symbols: Blackberries
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

My long hair floated all around me. My mother’s hair had been long and black, like mine, but a week before she left, she cut it. My father said to me, “Don’t cut yours, Sal. Please don’t cut yours.”

My mother said, “I knew you wouldn’t like it if I cut mine.”

My father said, “I didn’t say anything about yours.”

“But I know what you’re thinking,” she said.

“I loved your hair, Sugar,” he said.

I saved her hair. I swept it up from the kitchen floor and wrapped it in a plastic bag and hid it beneath the floorboards of my room. It was still there, along with the postcards she sent.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle (speaker), Dad (speaker), Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: Hair
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

The morning after my father learned that my mother was not coming back, he left for Lewiston, Idaho. Gram and Gramps came to stay with me. I had pleaded to go along, but my father said he didn’t think I should have to go through that. That day I climbed up into the maple and watched the singing tree, waiting for it to sing. I stayed there all day and on into the early evening. It did not sing.

At dusk, Gramps placed three sleeping bags at the foot of the tree, and he, Gram, and I slept there all night. The tree did not sing.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps
Related Symbols: The Singing Tree
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

“But for now,” he said, “we have to leave because your mother is haunting me day and night. She’s in the fields, the air, the barn, the walls, the trees.”

Related Characters: Dad (speaker), Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle, Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle
Related Symbols: Blackberries
Page Number: 104-05
Explanation and Analysis:

On that long day that my father and I left the farm behind and drove to Euclid, I wished that my father was not such a good man, so there would be someone to blame for my mother’s leaving. I didn’t want to blame her. She was my mother, and she was part of me.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

And just like Phoebe, who had waved her mother’s sweater in front of her father, I had brought a chicken in from the coop: Would Mom leave her favorite chicken?” I demanded. “She loves this chicken.”

What I really meant was, “How can she not come back to me? She loves me.”

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“So you didn’t leave Gramps just because of the cussing?”

“Salamanca, I don’t even remember why I did that. Sometimes you know in your heart you love someone, but you have to go away before your head can figure it out.”

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Gram (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gramps
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 26 Quotes

It went on and on like that. I hated her that day. I didn’t care how upset she was about her mother, I really hated her, and I wanted her to leave. I wondered if this was how my father felt when I threw all those temper tantrums. Maybe he hated me for a while.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Page Number: 155
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 44 Quotes

Lately, I’ve been wondering if there might be something hidden behind the fireplace, because just as the fireplace was behind the plaster wall and my mother’s story was behind Phoebe’s, I think there was a third story behind Phoebe’s and my mother’s, and that was about Gram and Gramps.

Related Characters: Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle (speaker), Momma/Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Dad, Gram, Gramps, Phoebe Winterbottom, Mrs. Winterbottom
Related Symbols: The Fireplace
Page Number: 254
Explanation and Analysis: