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Bud Caldwell’s suitcase very rarely ever leaves his side and symbolizes comfort, guidance, and belonging throughout the novel. In the suitcase, Bud keeps flyers of Herman E. Calloway’s band, his mother’s rocks, a blanket, and a picture of his mother as a child. In many ways, Bud’s suitcase is both his version of a traveling home and a traveling parent. It gives him some sense of stability and comfort amidst a very volatile period in his life, characterized by abusive foster parents, homelessness, hunger, and poverty. In carrying a picture of his mother and the rocks that once belonged to her, Bud is able to feel closer to her and feel like somewhere out there, there are people who care about him. Moreover, Bud often turns to his suitcase and its contents for comfort, whenever he needs a blanket to sleep on, needs to remember his “father’s” face, or needs to remind himself of his mother and her stories. Bud only gives his suitcase up—though not its contents—when he finds a place and people he feels like he belongs with. The band gifts bud with a refurbished saxophone case to use in place of his suitcase, symbolizing his newfound place among his newfound family.
Bud’s Suitcase Quotes in Bud, Not Buddy
The Bud, Not Buddy quotes below all refer to the symbol of Bud’s Suitcase. 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:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
I knew a nervous-looking, stung up kid with blood dripping from a fish-head bite and carrying a old raggedy suitcase didn’t look like he belonged around here.
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As Bud flees the Amoses’ neighborhood, he realizes how out of place he must look. Even at just 10 years old, Bud is very aware of the concept of belonging. Though in this passage he is referring to how outlandish he looks on the run when he says that he doesn’t “belong[] around here,” his thoughts still speak to his deeper desire to find a place and people to belong to—not just people who are legally bound to take care of him, but people who will love him and genuinely care about him. Moreover, it is telling that Bud particularly Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur
Chapter 7 Quotes
I opened my eyes to start looking for Miss Hill. She wasn’t at the lending desk, so I left my suitcase with the white lady there. I knew it would be safe.
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Bud is on a mission to find answers from Miss Hill the librarian, and though he’s especially vulnerable since he is currently living without a home outside of the foster care system, he still decides to trust a different librarian—a stranger—with his suitcase without vetting her first. This is very out of character for Bud, as his suitcase is absolutely precious to him and almost never leaves his side. After all, it carries his most important items that belonged to his mother. That Bud decides to trust the librarian may speak to the sense of safety that the library as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accus
Chapter 19 Quotes
The picture looked like it belonged. It’s strange the way things turn out, here I’d been carrying Momma around for all this time and I’d finally put her somewhere where she wanted to be, back in her own bedroom, back amongst all her horses.
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As the novel comes to a close and Bud unpacks his belongings, he realizes that he feels at home in his new place, in his mother’s room, surrounded by her childhood toys, objects, and her picture. Moreover, he feels like he no longer has to carry his mother’s memory around in his suitcase and protect her things from others. Instead, he realizes that he can carry her with him as long as he keeps her memory alive or as long as he continues to open himself up to the type of love she promised him he deserved all those years Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedi
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Bud’s Suitcase Symbol Timeline in Bud, Not Buddy
The timeline below shows where the symbol Bud’s Suitcase appears in Bud, Not Buddy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Bud enters the Amoses’ house through an unlocked kitchen window. He finds his suitcase is still under the kitchen table, picks it up, and goes to see if the...
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Thinking ahead, Bud then places his suitcase on the first step of the porch so he “[can] make a quick getaway after...
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...the room and out of the house and has a good laugh. He grabs his suitcase and begins walking towards the street, just as he realizes he is on the run...
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Chapter 10
...Bud shows him his face. Bud thinks the man sounds OK, so he slides his suitcase in the weeds and reveals himself.
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...Kindly Don’t Let the Sun Set on Your Rear End in Owosso!” Bud remembers his suitcase, so the man walks him back to the bushes to get it, never letting his...
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