Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Growing Up
Adventure, Mystery, and Secrets
Family
Independence, Capability, and Creativity
Art, Beauty, and Wonder
Summary
Analysis
On Tuesday, Claudia and Jamie do laundry again—Claudia’s sweater has shrunk—and check their P.O. Box. There’s nothing there. They decide to take a tour of the United Nations instead of returning to the museum—they can afford it if Claudia agrees not to buy dessert today. The girl selling tickets asks them if there’s no school today, prompting Jamie to make up an elaborate story about the boiler on the school’s furnace blowing up. But a man in a derby hat gets impatient at the holdup, so they move on. Claudia is impressed by Jamie’s ready-made excuse—he says he’s been holding onto the story since they left home—and tells him he’s “quite a kid.”
Biding their time for a response from the museum, the kids take advantage of some of New York City’s other famous attractions. They’re slightly less able to blend in at the United Nations than they are in the museum, but Jamie has apparently been preparing for a moment like this with a story that’s at least somewhat plausible. Though Jamie’s ideas have sometimes come close to landing the kids in trouble, Claudia also appreciates his skill in spinning tales like this. In fact, their adventure seems to have helped Claudia appreciate her brother more instead of criticizing and bossing him all the time.
Themes
Soon their numbers are called, and their tour begins. Their tour guide is an Indian woman, and Claudia is fascinated by her graceful walk, her “smoky topaz” skin color, and her accent. By the end of the tour, Claudia hasn’t learned much about the United Nations, but the guide’s beautiful sari has made her realize something. “Saris are a way of being different,” so when she’s grown up, she could either move to a place like India and be different by dressing as she normally does, or she could be different by staying in Greenwich and dressing like somebody else. Jamie doesn’t understand, but Claudia is determined to figure out a way to be different—and Angel will help her.
Instead of just a diversion from the museum, the United Nations tour becomes a significant turning point for Claudia personally. Their guide’s “different” characteristics prompt Claudia to think differently about herself. Of course, there are much more complex differences among human beings than just outward expressions like clothing style. But Claudia’s point is that she doesn’t want to be just the same as everyone around her. Even though her sense of what it means to be “different” is a bit superficial so far, it also suggests that she’s thinking more about the kind of person she wants to grow up to be.
Themes
The next day, they see an envelope in their P.O. Box. Claudia feels ready to become a 12-year-old heroine. When Jamie unfolds the letter, they read it together silently. (Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler attaches a copy of the letter from her files.) The letter thanks “Friends of the Museum” for their help in trying to solve the statue’s mystery. It says that the museum has known about the stonemason’s mark for a long time. However, more evidence is needed, because not all the marble bearing Michelangelo’s mark was actually carved by him.
Just two days after giving their letter to the museum, the kids get a response—but it’s not what they’ve been hoping for. It turns out that the “M” impression they spotted wasn’t a huge revelation after all. But that’s not the only problem—just because the statue has Michelangelo’s mark on it doesn’t prove anything by itself. While this development might be pretty obvious to an art expert, the kids wouldn’t necessarily realize it on their own.
Themes
So, there are three possibilities, the letter continues: the statue could be Michelangelo’s, it could have been designed by Michelangelo but carved by someone else, or it could have been both designed and carved by someone else. The mark could be a counterfeit.
The museum’s letter lays out possible explanations for Michelangelo’s mark being on the statue. These possibilities highlight the fact that history is complex and messy, and that evidence must be interpreted, not just accepted at face value. Moreover, evidence may not necessarily prove what someone wants it to prove.
Themes
Get the entire From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler LitChart as a printable PDF.
Neither of the biographers who knew Michelangelo personally mention an angel statue. However, in a letter written in 1497, Michelangelo wrote to his father that he had bought a piece of marble with the intention of sculpting something for himself. Experts have believed that sculpture was a cupid, but it might actually have been an angel. Many international experts have examined the angel, and two more experts are on their way from Italy right now. In the meantime, the letter invites them to share any additional clues they might find. The letter is signed by Harold C. Lowery, Public Relations.
Finally, the letter also points out that there’s reason to hope that the statue might indeed have been carved by Michelangelo. In other words, an angel statue might very well be among the artist’s “lost” works that Jamie read about earlier, and experts are actively investigating this possibility. So in this respect, at least, the kids’ hunch about the statue seems to have been on the right track.
Themes
Claudia and Jamie sit down in Grand Central Station’s waiting room, speechless with disappointment. The letter was so polite that Claudia can’t get angry, so she cries instead. Jamie fidgets until she’s done, then quietly asks what they should do now—go home? Claudia says she can’t face home without having accomplished anything. When they left home, she only cared about having fun. But now that’s not enough.
Claudia’s heart was set on solving Angel’s mystery, though it’s not totally clear why. Whatever the reason, the news that they haven’t solved the mystery is something Claudia takes very personally It’s also obvious that Claudia has changed over the course of the past week—she’s now looking for something deeper from this adventure than escaping responsibility or proving a point.
Themes
Jamie tries to convince Claudia that just living in the museum for a whole week was an accomplishment. But Claudia feels like she jumped into a lake to rescue a boy, and the boy turned out to be just a log—she’s no heroine after all. Jamie points out that she didn’t set out to be a hero—she just wanted to run away and do so comfortably. But Claudia says she didn’t know she wanted to be a heroine. Then the statue gave her a chance. If they make a real discovery, then she’ll know how to go back to Greenwich.
By comparing this situation to rescuing a drowning kid, Claudia means that she wants to do something unique—“heroic”—that nobody else could do. Now, though, she feels as if she’s played a trick on herself: she thought she had discovered something nobody else knew, but she was wrong the whole time. Because of that, she feels like the entire effort of running away was for nothing.
Themes
Jamie is still puzzled—don’t they go back to Greenwich on the New Haven railroad, the same way they came? Claudia explains that she doesn’t mean she wants to go home differently. She wants to go home different, not the same old Claudia Kincaid. Jamie retorts that one thing Claudia can do differently is stop ending every conversation with an argument about grammar. To his surprise, Claudia says she’ll try.
Being younger, Jamie doesn’t quite follow Claudia’s reasoning—he takes her meaning at face value, whereas Claudia is concerned about growing up. Perhaps the most surprising thing about their conversation, though, is that Claudia is willing to make an effort to stop criticizing Jamie’s grammar, suggesting that she’s no longer so focused on his weaknesses.
Themes
Claudia keeps insisting she has to know for sure if Michelangelo did the sculpture, while Jamie says that if the experts don’t even know, then he’s fine with not knowing. He gets up to buy train tickets home, then lectures Claudia that she’s never satisfied—she started out running away and ended up wanting to know everything. Claudia doesn’t argue and follows him slowly to the counter. But when Jamie orders the tickets, she interrupts and says they want to go to Farmington, Connecticut. They step aside, and Claudia explains that’s where Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler lives. She has a hunch that Mrs. Frankweiler will see them, and that she knows the answer about Angel.
Jamie isn’t as invested in the truth about Angel as Claudia is, and he doesn’t relate to how her outlook has changed over the course of their adventure. To him, it just seems like Claudia can’t make up her mind about what she wants. For a moment, it looks like Claudia gives in. But as she’s done at other low moments in the story, she suddenly turns a difficult scenario to their advantage with the brainstorm to track down Mrs. Frankweiler.
Themes
Jamie is surprised that Claudia has a “hunch”—she usually plans everything. But Claudia argues that the night she stayed in the bathroom while the statue was being moved, that was a hunch, too. That satisfies Jamie, and he buys them tickets to Hartford (from which they’ll catch a bus to Farmington). While they’re waiting at the track, Claudia points out this is also a first for Jamie—he bought the tickets without worrying about the price. Thinking about this, Jamie acknowledges that he’s been a “tightwad” his whole life.
What Jamie points out is true—Claudia has organized their whole trip around meticulous plans. It’s unlike her to make a decision based on an instinct like this. And, for that matter, it’s unlike Jamie to spend money without making a big deal over it. It seems both kids have changed and become a bit more flexible. They’re both quicker to acknowledge their weaknesses and also to recognize each other’s strengths.
Themes
The kids enjoy the train ride, and by the time they arrive in Hartford, Claudia feels happy and confident again. She hails a cab outside the station, and Jamie gets in without complaint. Claudia tells the driver to take them to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’s house in Farmington. (And that, Mrs. Frankweiler tells Saxonberg, is how she enters the story.)
After living in the museum for a week, the kids leave New York behind, but their adventure isn’t over. Deciding to visit Mrs. Frankweiler is a step out of hiding and back toward ordinary life again, but first, they have a mystery to solve.
Themes
