Because of Winn-Dixie

by

Kate DiCamillo

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Because of Winn-Dixie makes teaching easy.

Amanda Wilkinson Character Analysis

Amanda is a girl in Naomi who’s about Opal’s age. Opal describes her as “pinch-faced,” or mean. In Opal’s assessment, Amanda is a stickler for rules and walks around looking like she smelled something nasty. To Opal’s credit, Amanda is cold to Miss Franny when she goes to the library to return and check out books. However, the novel eventually reveals that this behavior is a front to cover up Amanda’s grief. The story of Littmus W. Block begins to break down Amanda’s walls, and Opal later discovers that last summer, Amanda’s little brother, Carson, drowned. Opal infers that Amanda looks and behaves the way she does because she’s still grieving her brother, though the novel never confirms or denies this. Amanda is nervous but happy when Opal invites her to the party at Gloria’s, and at the party itself, Amanda seems less mean and stuck-up. Though Amanda is still intent on following rules to the letter and forcing others to do the same, Opal makes a point to be kinder to her and more understanding of where Amanda might be coming from.

Amanda Wilkinson Quotes in Because of Winn-Dixie

The Because of Winn-Dixie quotes below are all either spoken by Amanda Wilkinson or refer to Amanda Wilkinson. 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:
Storytelling and Listening Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

And none of them wanted to be my friend anyway because they probably thought I’d tell on them to the preacher for every little thing they did wrong; and then they would get in trouble with God and their parents. So I told God that I was lonely, even having Winn-Dixie.

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Winn-Dixie, Daddy/The Preacher, Amanda Wilkinson, Dunlap Dewberry, Stevie Dewberry, Sweetie Pie Thomas
Page Number: 38-39
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“And the army took him, and Littmus went off to war, just like that. Left behind his mother and three sisters. He went off to be a hero. But he soon found out the truth.” Miss Franny closed her eyes and shook her head.

“What truth?” I asked her.

“Why, that war is hell,” Miss Franny said with her eyes still closed. “Pure hell.”

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Miss Franny Block (speaker), Amanda Wilkinson, Littmus W. Block
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

I ate my Littmus Lozenge slow. It tasted good. It tasted like root beer and strawberry and something else I didn’t have a name for, something that made me feel kind of sad. I looked over at Amanda. She was sucking on her candy and thinking hard.

“Do you like it?” Miss Franny asked me.

“Yes ma’am,” I told her.

“What about you, Amanda? Do you like the Littmus Lozenge?”

“Yes ma’am,” she said. “But it makes me think of things I feel sad about.”

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Miss Franny Block (speaker), Amanda Wilkinson (speaker), Littmus W. Block
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

I didn’t go to sleep right away. I lay there and thought how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out. It was confusing.

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Daddy/The Preacher, Amanda Wilkinson, Carson
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:

I got up out of bed and unwrapped a Littmus Lozenge and sucked on it hard and thought about my mama leaving me. That was a melancholy feeling. And then I thought about Amanda and Carson. And that made me feel melancholy, too. Poor Amanda. And poor Carson. He was the same age as Sweetie Pie. But he would never get to have his sixth birthday party.

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Mama, Amanda Wilkinson, Sweetie Pie Thomas, Carson
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 126-27
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

“Well,” said Gloria Dump. “We didn’t do nothin’. We just sat here and waited and sang some songs. We all got to be good friends. Now. The punch ain’t nothin’ but water and the egg-salad sandwiches got tore up by the rain. You got to eat them with a spoon if you want egg salad. But we got pickles to eat. And Littmus Lozenges. And we still got a party going on.”

Related Characters: Gloria Dump (speaker), India Opal Buloni, Winn-Dixie, Daddy/The Preacher, Otis, Miss Franny Block, Amanda Wilkinson, Dunlap Dewberry, Stevie Dewberry
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Because of Winn-Dixie LitChart as a printable PDF.
Because of Winn-Dixie PDF

Amanda Wilkinson Quotes in Because of Winn-Dixie

The Because of Winn-Dixie quotes below are all either spoken by Amanda Wilkinson or refer to Amanda Wilkinson. 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:
Storytelling and Listening Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

And none of them wanted to be my friend anyway because they probably thought I’d tell on them to the preacher for every little thing they did wrong; and then they would get in trouble with God and their parents. So I told God that I was lonely, even having Winn-Dixie.

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Winn-Dixie, Daddy/The Preacher, Amanda Wilkinson, Dunlap Dewberry, Stevie Dewberry, Sweetie Pie Thomas
Page Number: 38-39
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“And the army took him, and Littmus went off to war, just like that. Left behind his mother and three sisters. He went off to be a hero. But he soon found out the truth.” Miss Franny closed her eyes and shook her head.

“What truth?” I asked her.

“Why, that war is hell,” Miss Franny said with her eyes still closed. “Pure hell.”

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Miss Franny Block (speaker), Amanda Wilkinson, Littmus W. Block
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

I ate my Littmus Lozenge slow. It tasted good. It tasted like root beer and strawberry and something else I didn’t have a name for, something that made me feel kind of sad. I looked over at Amanda. She was sucking on her candy and thinking hard.

“Do you like it?” Miss Franny asked me.

“Yes ma’am,” I told her.

“What about you, Amanda? Do you like the Littmus Lozenge?”

“Yes ma’am,” she said. “But it makes me think of things I feel sad about.”

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Miss Franny Block (speaker), Amanda Wilkinson (speaker), Littmus W. Block
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

I didn’t go to sleep right away. I lay there and thought how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out. It was confusing.

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Daddy/The Preacher, Amanda Wilkinson, Carson
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:

I got up out of bed and unwrapped a Littmus Lozenge and sucked on it hard and thought about my mama leaving me. That was a melancholy feeling. And then I thought about Amanda and Carson. And that made me feel melancholy, too. Poor Amanda. And poor Carson. He was the same age as Sweetie Pie. But he would never get to have his sixth birthday party.

Related Characters: India Opal Buloni (speaker), Mama, Amanda Wilkinson, Sweetie Pie Thomas, Carson
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 126-27
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

“Well,” said Gloria Dump. “We didn’t do nothin’. We just sat here and waited and sang some songs. We all got to be good friends. Now. The punch ain’t nothin’ but water and the egg-salad sandwiches got tore up by the rain. You got to eat them with a spoon if you want egg salad. But we got pickles to eat. And Littmus Lozenges. And we still got a party going on.”

Related Characters: Gloria Dump (speaker), India Opal Buloni, Winn-Dixie, Daddy/The Preacher, Otis, Miss Franny Block, Amanda Wilkinson, Dunlap Dewberry, Stevie Dewberry
Related Symbols: Littmus Lozenges
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis: