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Jake is Dibs’s family’s gardener. Jake is very kind to Dibs: when Dibs’s father asks Jake to trim a tree outside Dibs’s window, Jake saves the tip of the branch because he knows that Dibs liked to touch the branch. He also tells Dibs stories, like that of the last leaf on the tree which flew around the world and came back to tell Dibs about where it went. In his therapy sessions with Dr. Axline, Dibs explains that Jake had a heart attack and doesn’t often come around the house anymore. Nevertheless, Axline recognizes the value of the empathy that Jake showed Dibs.
Jake Quotes in Dibs in Search of Self
The Dibs in Search of Self quotes below are all either spoken by Jake or refer to Jake. 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 11 Quotes
“I keep that leaf,” he said. “It is very tired and very old. But I keep that leaf. I mounted it and framed it. And I imagine some of the things it must have seen, flying all around the world with the wind. And I read in my books about the countries it saw.”
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Jake Character Timeline in Dibs in Search of Self
The timeline below shows where the character Jake appears in Dibs in Search of Self. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
...Miss Jane. When Axline asks if he knows other grown-ups, he says he knows Hedda, Jake (their gardener), and Millie (who does the laundry).
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Dibs describes how Jake once trimmed one of the big trees in the family’s yard—a tree that grew close...
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Axline asks if Dibs spends much time with Jake, and Dibs says that he used to go out into the yard where Jake would...
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...sucking on it. Axline asks if Dibs is sad, and he nods: he explains that Jake had a heart attack so he doesn’t often come around the house anymore. Dibs misses...
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Dibs walks over to the window and looks at the church, explaining that Jake and his grandmother go to church, but his father and mother don’t, so he and...
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...Axline. After Dibs is gone, Axline reflects on how strong he is and wonders whether Jake knew how much of an impact his understanding and kindness had.
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