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Chapter 7
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Foster, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family
Loss and Grief
Parenting and Judgment
Secrets and Shame
Money and Priorities
Summary
Analysis
The girl climbs out of the well and makes her way back to the house. When Edna sees her, she grows very still and then takes the girl inside. Though the girl doesn’t come down with a fever, Edna makes her stay in bed all day Saturday. Edna keeps thinking about how badly things could have gone, and John tells her that the girl is okay and that nothing bad happened. On Sunday, Edna allows the girl to get out of bed, and they pack the girl’s things. Sooner than the girl would like, they all get into the car and drive to Carnew. As they drive into town, the girl points out the place where her father lost a cow in a game of cards.
When Edna and John discuss how badly things could have gone when the girl fell into the well, they are implicitly discussing their son’s death and the grief they have both experienced. On the way home, the girl points out the place where Dan lost a cow in a game of cards, suggesting that the financial precarity in which the girl’s family lives may be due, at least in part, to Dan’s prioritization of his own desires over the well-being of his family.
Active
Themes
When the girl, Edna, and John arrive at the girl’s house, Mary remarks that the girl has grown. The girl says, “Yes,” and Mary points out what she sees as the girl’s newfound formality and properness. Dan isn’t at home. The girl’s sisters approach the girl like she’s a stranger and touch her dress and the buckles on her shoes. The girl thinks that her sisters seem thinner. The new baby, a boy, cries upstairs, and Mary goes to fetch him.
The fact that the girl’s sisters have grown thinner points once more to the financial precarity in which the girl’s family lives. Again, the novel suggests that that financial precarity may be due, at least in part, to Dan’s proclivity to prioritize his own desires over the well-being of his family.
Active
Themes
Dan returns home. Edna says he must be wanting dinner, and Dan says he already had a “liquid dinner.” Dan asks John and Edna how the girl was through the summer, and John says that it was a pleasure to have her. The girl sneezes, and Mary asks if she’s come down with something. The girl says that she hasn’t and then she says that nothing happened, which Mary and Dan find suspicious. John says the girl caught a slight chill, and Dan says that he’s not surprised that John and Edna couldn’t take care of the girl. Mary reproaches Dan. John says it seems like it’s time for them to go. The girl sneezes again, and Dan says it seems like she really came down with something. Mary says she’s sure it must just be something that’s going around.
Active
Themes
John and Edna get ready to go, and they say that the girl is welcome to come stay with them any time. After John and Edna leave, Mary asks the girl what happened. The girl again insists that nothing happened. Then, she hears the Kinsellas’ car stop on the gravel driveway at the gate. The girl feels like she knows exactly what to do. She’s been training for it all summer by running down to the mailbox. She takes off in a sprint down the driveway.
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John is outside the car, refastening the gate. When he sees the girl coming, he leaves the gate open. When the girl reaches him, she leaps into his arms and hugs him. She keeps her eyes closed for a long time and holds him as if she would drown if she let go. When she finally opens her eyes, she sees Dan walking down the driveway. The girl wants to tell Edna that she’ll never tell anyone that she fell into the well. But another feeling makes her stay in John’s arms. John has his back to the driveway, so he doesn’t see Dan coming. The girl says, “Daddy,” to warn John that her father is coming down the driveway. She then says, “Daddy,” again, this time referring to John as her father.
Active
Themes
