Bud, Not Buddy

by

Christopher Paul Curtis

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Bud, Not Buddy: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Herman locks himself in his room while Bud sits at the kitchen table. After Jimmy and Miss Thomas fail to get Herman out, they go back to Bud. They ask Bud if he’s sure his mother’s name is Angela Janet, and Bud responds that he’s sure. Jimmy asks if she ever mentioned the name Calloway, but Bud responds that she didn’t.
In realizing that Bud, an orphan, is his grandson, Herman also has to come to terms with the knowledge that his daughter has died. Herman isolates himself from the rest of the band to deal with his grief, suggesting that his daughter meant a lot to him but also raising the question of why he didn’t already know about her death or about Bud’s existence.
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Jimmy asks Bud how his mother passed, and Bud responds that she passed when he was six years old after being too sick to go to work for six days. Bud tells them that when she passed, she didn’t suffer, her eyes were open, and it “didn’t look like it hurt or nothing.” Jimmy asks Bud various questions about what his mother looked like, but Miss Thomas objects to Jimmy’s suggestion that Bud is not truly Herman’s grandson.
Bud relieves some of the horror of his mother’s death when he talks openly to Jimmy and Miss Thomas. Like the past times he’s told the story, Bud insists that she didn’t suffer, which continues to bring him solace.
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Bud does a bad job of describing his mother, so he asks to be excused to get a picture. He ends up running and then tiptoeing up the stairs—so he doesn’t anger Herman since Bud sees his door open—to his room. Inside Bud’s room, however, Bud sees Herman perched on a little chair. Herman has his face covered with his hands and doesn’t see Bud.
Bud is surprised to find Herman in his room, though he tries to avoid another conflict, perhaps because he senses the man is in deep pain because of the revelations about his daughter.
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Herman is making noises in his hands, so Bud tries to tiptoe out of the room. At the last minute, he decides he’s still going to get the picture, Herman or no Herman. Bud takes out his saxophone case as Herman continues to cry. He gets the picture out and is about to leave when he notices that Herman is actually “bawling his eyes out.”
After getting the picture of his mother, Bud notices that Herman is in deep pain. The once intimidating man continues to cry and convulse in Bud’s presence. This changes Bud’s perception of him and Bud realizes that Herman has feelings just like everyone.
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Bud wonders if having him as a grandson is “the worst news anyone could ever give you in your life.” He thinks about his “rule 39,” “The older you get, the worse something has to be to make you cry.”
Even though Bud is usually extremely mature for his age, in this moment he fails to grasp that Herman is grieving his late daughter. Instead, Bud wonders if Herman is upset because he is Herman’s grandson and wonders if being related to him is really that bad.
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Bud feels sorry for Herman and walks over to him. He puts his hand on Herman’s back, and Herman whips around. He is taken aback when he sees Bud and stumbles to give him an apology. Bud interrupts him, however, to tell him that his name is “Bud, sir, not Buddy.” Herman starts crying again so Bud begins to console him for the second time.
In this instance, Herman seems like the child while Bud is the wise adult consoling him, which is yet another reminder of how quickly Bud has had to grow up. Herman’s apology, coupled with Bud essentially reintroducing himself, suggests that the two are starting fresh in their relationship.
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Bud leaves and goes back to the kitchen. He drops the picture on middle of the table. Jimmy and Miss Thomas both look at it, but it is Miss Thomas who eventually picks it up, puts on her glasses, and examines the picture of Bud’s mother and the horse closer. Jimmy looks at it next and remembers the horse first. Miss Thomas reminds him to look at who else is in the picture. Jimmy looks and is sure the woman is Angela Janet.
Miss Thomas and Jimmy examine the picture, cautiously at first, and are stunned by the picture’s depiction of Bud’s mother.
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Jimmy asks Bud if he’s sure the woman is his mother, and Bud says he’s sure. Miss Thomas then brings up what they “got to do” about the situation, and Bud stops listening. Bud tells Miss Thomas that he’s just realized that he’s not sleeping “some little dead girl’s room,” but his “momma’s room.” Miss Thomas tells him he’s right.
Jimmy again asks Bud if he’s absolutely certain the woman in the picture is his mother. It is not that he doesn’t want to believe Bud, it is just hard for him to swallow that the girl in the picture is dead. It is a revelatory moment for Bud as well, who realizes that the dead little girl’s room was his mother’s room. In a way, Bud has never been as close to his mother since she passed. He is physically living among the things she loved at his age.
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Bud then asks Miss Thomas why Herman never called to check in on him and Momma, so his mother wouldn’t have been so sad. Jimmy and Miss Thomas exchange looks, and then Miss Thomas asks Bud for his hand.
Bud prepares himself to hear about his mother and grandfather’s volatile relationship. Although difficult, Bud does not shy away from the truth, demonstrating his maturity.
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Miss Thomas tells Bud that they didn’t know about him, and that “no one knew where [his] mother had gone.” Jimmy interjects and says that Herman was hard on her, but Miss Thomas politely asks him to “check on Herman,” so Jimmy does.
Miss Thomas lets Bud know that things were difficult between his mother and grandfather, which made his mother run away. It seems that Bud and his mother share more things in common than he had imagined.
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Miss Thomas then explains that Herman is hard to get along with because he has such high standards, so he “get[s] let down a lot.” Bud nods, pretending he understands. She then explains that Herman was especially hard on his daughter, Bud’s mother, because he wanted her to be the first in the family to go to school. Miss Thomas tells Bud that Herman’s parents were slaves, so he was determined to have his daughter be a schoolteacher.
Herman pushed his daughter too hard, which ultimately pushed her away. Though Bud doesn’t understand everything Miss Thomas says, he does understand how scary and domineering adults can be, especially when they think they know what’s best for a child. Herman’s intentions, however, came from a good place as he just wanted his daughter to have a better life.
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Miss Thomas finally reveals to Bud that Herman’s dream never became his daughter’s dream. She also hints that Bud’s mother “ran off with one of Herman’s drummers.”
Miss Thomas suggests that Bud’s mother ran away to become her own person. Perhaps that was why she instilled such a strong sense of self within Bud, to give her son something she didn’t have growing up.
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Miss Thomas reveals they have waited 11 years for a word from her. Then she looks at Bud and tells him that from her perspective, she’s “sent [them] the best word [they’ve] had in years.” Bud understands that she means he’s the “word.”
Miss Thomas reminds Bud of how much his place within their household means to her. Miss Thomas believes Bud’s presence is Bud’s mother’s way of giving them good news after many years of silence.
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Quotes
Miss Thomas excuses herself. Bud thinks she’s going to go and cry, but she comes back quickly with a picture of his mother that looked like “Momma’d poked her head out of the cloud.” In the moment, he wants to laugh and cry.
Miss Thomas gives Bud a new picture of his mother that makes Bud feel like his mother is looking down from heaven, through the clouds, and giving Bud her blessing to take her place within the Calloway home.
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Miss Thomas shows him a trick with the picture. She moves the picture and each time it looks like Bud’s mother is still watching him. Bud asks if he can keep it and Miss Thomas says that she’s been holding it for the “rightful owner,” all along.
Miss Thomas’s trick with the photo also makes Bud feel as if his mother still watches over him from the clouds, almost as his guardian angel.
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Miss Thomas tells Bud that she needs his help with a problem. She reminds him that the grief of his mother’s passing is new to her and Herman, who she reveals thinks about his daughter every day.
Miss Thomas also asks Bud for help dealing with the news of his mother’s passing since the pain is still raw to her and Herman. While Bud feels as if he has gained a new family, to them it feels as if they have both gained and lost a new family member, which is a lot to process.
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Miss Thomas tells Bud that Herman looks for Bud’s mother in every show. She also tells Bud that the stones he picks are for Bud’s mother because when she was four, she had asked Herman, who was on his way to a show, for a rock from Chicago.
The shadow of Bud’s mother’s absence continues to live on within their household and the band’s shows. Even in her absence, Bud’s mother is a huge part of Herman’s life, just like she is a huge part of Bud’s life.
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Miss Thomas finally reveals that they need him to remember that she and Herman love his mother as much as he does. Bud doesn’t believe them; he especially doesn’t believe Herman could love anyone. Miss Thomas tells Bud to be patient with Herman, just as Jimmy comes back down and tells her that Herman wants her. Bud excuses her and takes back the picture of his mother.
Miss Thomas wants Bud to know that his mother is as much a part of their family as she was a part of Bud’s family. Miss Thomas is asking Bud to be patient and mature for her and Herman as they grieve for his mother.
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Shortly after, the rest of the band comes inside, talking loudly. They ask Bud where everyone is. Bud avoids telling them everyone is crying. Instead he says they are “around.”
Bud does not reveal to the band that everyone is grieving for his mother, which is perhaps his attempt to be patient and mature like Miss Thomas asked.
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Steady Eddie tells Bud that because he’s been working so hard on the recorder, they’ve put their “pennies” together to get Bud a present. Bud opens the case and sees a “baby-size horn like Steady Eddie’s saxophone.” Bud looks at his “bandmates” and thanks them repeatedly.
Steady Eddie provides Bud with a new instrument, which makes all the previous sorrow and hurt disappear briefly from Bud’s mind. It gives Bud a chance to focus on how good it feels to belong to a family now, and it is also another indication that Eddie, who also plays the saxophone, intends to take Bud under his wing.
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Steady Eddie helps him take it out and puts the horn together to play it. He tells Bud he refurbished it for him. Then he takes out a can that says “Brasso,” and tells Bud to use a rag to “shine her up.”
Steady Eddie reminds Bud to treat the instrument as if it is very valuable—just like a true musician. Again, Bud feels excited to take part in making music with his band family.
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Bud promises he’ll be just as good as them in three weeks, making the band laugh. Steady Eddie promises to start giving him lessons. He also promises to bring back sheet music after he’s back from Tyla’s place.
Bud, eager to prove himself yet again, decides he will impress them by learning the music as quickly as possible. This does impress Eddie, so he agrees to give Bud lessons soon.
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Bud then tries on the saxophone for the first time and is happy with its weight. Bud asks to be excused but the band members egg him on to play, so Bud tells them they’ll have to wait to hear him perform with them in three weeks. Bud asks to be excused and Steady Eddie excuses him. Bud thanks his bandmates again profusely on his way out.
Bud’s commitment to getting good at playing the saxophone in only three short weeks reveals his deep desire to make his band family proud of him.
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Bud goes upstairs and notices that Miss Thomas’s door is closed, but he can hear both her and Herman talking. He doesn’t want to listen, so he takes his saxophone to his room.
Bud uncharacteristically avoids the opportunity to eavesdrop on Miss Thomas’ and Herman’s conversation. This shows that Bud is no longer as wary around adults. He has put his trust in his family, and he believes they mean the best for him. This signals that his volatile relationship with adults may finally be coming to an end.
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Bud takes out the case with his things and makes his bed with his blanket. He takes the rock that says Flint and puts it on his table. He takes the flyers, knocks on Herman’s door even though he knows he’s not in, and then leaves the flyers and the rest of the rocks in his room. Bud is sure they mean more to Herman than they do to him.
Bud begins to “move in” to his mother’s room, further solidifying his place in the family and in the home. Since he has decided that this will be his permanent home, he no longer has to plan or prepare to run at a moment’s notice with all of his things. For that reason, he looks for permanent places for his belongings within the house. He even finds it in his heart to leave his flyers and rocks in Herman’s room, perhaps because it will show Herman that his daughter thought about him often as well.
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Next, Bud goes back to his room, takes out a thumbtack and the picture of his mother on a horse, and sticks the picture on the wall of horses, where it “looked like it belonged.” Bud realizes he doesn’t need any of these things anymore because Deza was right—he carries his mother inside him. Besides, “the one rock from Flint would be enough,” so he puts it on his sax case.
Bud hangs the picture of his mother next to him on the wall so that she continues to be near him. Both of them, Bud and his mother, are right where they belong in the end: he is with the band, and she is with the horses she loved from childhood and the son she loved in adulthood. Moreover, Bud finally understands that he doesn’t need to carry his mother with him in a suitcase because she already exists within him—which no one can steal from him.
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Quotes
Bud then prepares to play the saxophone, so he can know if he can play with the band soon. He counts to 10 and plays but the sax makes a screeching sound, so Bud counts to 10 again. The second time he plays, he’s more impressed by what he hears, and he’s confident he can “learn how to play this.” Bud imagines the sounds are of “one door closing and another opening.”
Bud, excited by all the rich possibilities of his new life, gets to work preparing for the day he will take the stage and make his family proud. For once, Bud’s future doesn’t feel bleak but laden with the promise of love, family, and adventure. He imagines this is what his mother must have meant about new doors in one’s life opening.
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Finally, Bud looks at the picture of Momma that Miss Thomas gave him and smiles at it. He tells his mother he “can’t wait” for what comes next. Then he closes his eyes and begins to practice again.
Having finally found a place where he belongs and is loved, Bud is excited for the future and “can’t wait” to see all of the doors that continue to open for him.
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