Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Because of Winn-Dixie, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Storytelling and Listening
Sadness, Happiness, and Growing Up
Family and Loss
Openness, Friendship, and Community
Summary
Analysis
The air conditioning at the library doesn’t work well, so as soon as Opal and Winn-Dixie get to the library, Winn-Dixie settles himself in front of the only fan. Opal worries about him hogging it and wonders if the air will blow all his hair out, but Miss Franny assures Opal that he’s fine. Sometimes when Miss Franny tells stories, she has small fits. She forgets what she’s staying and trembles. Whenever this happens, Winn-Dixie gets up and sits next to her until the fit passes. Then, he licks her hands. Miss Franny’s fits remind Opal of how Winn-Dixie reacts to thunderstorms. Opal gets better at holding onto and comforting Winn-Dixie, but holding him is about more than comforting him: she doesn’t want him to run away.
Again, Winn-Dixie sets a good example of how to be a caring friend. Just as Opal doesn’t hold his fear of thunderstorms against him, he doesn’t judge Miss Franny for her fits—instead, he does what he can to comfort her. Opal’s mention that she holds onto Winn-Dixie to stop him from running away suggests that in addition to not wanting to lose her dog, she may also want to do with Winn-Dixie what she couldn’t do with Mama and physically keep him in her life forever.
Themes
Both Winn-Dixie and Miss Franny’s behavior reminds Opal of Gloria. Opal wonders who comforts her when the ghosts chatter about what she did wrong. Opal decides that she wants to comfort Gloria, and that the best way to do that is to read a book to her loud enough to scare away the ghosts. Opal asks Miss Franny for book recommendations and Miss Franny suggests Gone with the Wind. Opal hasn’t heard of it, but she has heard of the Civil War. Miss Franny says her great-grandfather, Littmus W. Block, fought in the war as a boy, and that’s a story. Opal asks to hear the story and settles in, but Amanda Wilkinson comes into the library. She bossily declares that she’s ready for another book, but Miss Franny asks her to wait and invites Amanda to listen to her story. Amanda pretends she’s not interested, but she stands to listen.
Opal’s choice to take on the responsibility of comforting Gloria reflects her growing maturity: she now understands that she has a responsibility to care for others in the community in the same way that they care for her. Asking Miss Franny for book recommendations to read to Gloria shows that Opal’s different friendships are beginning to converge. Even if they’ve never met, Gloria and Miss Franny now have a connection to each other through Opal. When Amanda is clearly interested in the story, it indicates that it’s a natural inclination to be interested in stories like this—and if a person is willing to listen, they themselves can become more human and sympathetic in the eyes of others.
Themes
