From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Claudia Kincaid knows she can’t pull off the “old-fashioned,” angry kind of running away. What’s more, she hates being uncomfortable. So, she decides that she won’t just run from somewhere but to somewhere—somewhere comfortable, indoors, and preferably beautiful. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Claudia plans carefully. She saves up her allowance and chooses Jamie, the second youngest of her three younger brothers, to be her companion. He’s quiet, occasionally funny, and rich—he saves almost every penny he gets. But Claudia takes her time sharing the plan with Jamie. Besides, she has to save up for train fare from the suburbs and a few other expenses.

In the meantime, Claudia almost forgets her reason for running away, but not entirely. As the oldest child and the only girl, she suffers a lot of injustice. She has to do all the chores while her brothers get out of everything. But a bigger reason, clearer to Mrs. Frankweiler than to Claudia, is that she’s sick of monotony and routine, tired of being “straight-A’s Claudia Kincaid.”

To save enough money for train fare, Claudia has to skip hot fudge sundaes for more than three weeks. This, too, is an injustice. (Since Saxonberg drives to the city and probably doesn’t know how much train fare costs, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tells him: one-way fare costs $1.60, but since Claudia and Jamie are both under 12, they can travel for half price.) Claudia has to save up for the return fare, too, since after everyone’s “learned a lesson in Claudia appreciation,” she intends to return home.

Greenwich is a commuting suburb of New York, so Claudia knows the city isn’t that far away, but she also knows it’s a good place to get lost. She loves New York; she finds it elegant and important. To prepare, she studies guidebooks and pamphlets. She also practices giving up things: instead of hot fudge sundaes, she contents herself with Good Humor bars from the freezer.

Claudia figures she has the smallest allowance in her class. Plus, she forfeits a nickel every time she forgets a chore, and most of the other sixth graders have maids to do their chores for them. Claudia’s family just has a twice-a-week cleaning lady. Jamie, for his part, rarely spends money. A year and a half ago, he bought a transistor radio he’d saved up for. Claudia figures the transistor radio might come in handy.

On Saturdays, Claudia has to empty everyone’s wastebaskets. One week, Claudia discovers a 10-ride railroad pass in her parents’ wastebasket. There’s one ride left on it—her dad must have lost track of the pass, and then the cleaning lady mistakenly threw it away. Claudia feels this is a stroke of good luck, since both she and Jamie can use the pass to get to New York. She decides they’ll leave on Wednesday.

On Monday after school, Claudia tells Jamie she wants to sit with him on the bus so they can talk. Usually, the Kincaid kids don’t wait for one another, except that one of the older kids is in charge of Kevin each week (at six, he’s the youngest Kincaid, and Claudia thinks he’s spoiled). Jamie had wanted to sit with his friend Bruce since they always play cards together, and he pouts when Claudia pulls him away. Once he’s cooled down, Claudia tells Jamie that she wants him “for the greatest adventure in our lives.” After letting suspense build, she explains that she’s chosen Jamie to run away with her. 

At first, Jamie wonders why Claudia is picking on him instead of their brother Steve, but soon he starts feeling special and chosen. He asks Claudia how they’re going to “bust out of here” and urges her to make the plan as complicated as possible, since he likes complications. But Claudia says a successful plan has to be simple. That’s why she’s picked Wednesday—it’s music lesson day. She can take her violin out of its case and pack the case full of clothes; Jamie should do the same with his trumpet and trumpet case. She also tells him to bring his transistor radio.

Claudia butters Jamie up by assuring him that if he runs away with her, he’ll be allowed to wear his sneakers. Then she asks him how much money he has. At first, he doesn’t want to answer. He tells her that she can’t tell their parents this, but he gambles with Bruce and collects winnings every Friday. He always wins. Claudia finally gets him to admit that he’s saved up $24.43 in winnings. Furthermore, he knows he’ll win again this Friday (he won’t say how he knows), so if Claudia will wait until then, he can make the total an even $25.

Claudia feels justified for choosing Jamie, since they complement each other so well—she is cautious where he’s adventurous, and she is poor while he’s rich. But Claudia refuses to wait until Friday to run away. She says she will write down their plan, and after Jamie memorizes the plan, he must destroy the note. Jamie says he’ll eat the note, since he likes complications.

When they get off the bus, Steve yells that it’s Claudia’s responsibility to walk Kevin home, so she pulls him along. Kevin whines that he’d rather walk with Steve all the time, and Claudia tells him he might get his wish. Kevin, pouting, never realizes that Claudia gave him a clue.