In some ways, the Kincaids’ running away from home and hiding in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is childish, and their motivations are decidedly mixed. Jamie, for instance, relishes the chance to wear sneakers instead of school shoes, and he wants to be free of schedules and the obligation to study and learn. And Claudia, for her part, seems oblivious to the fact that running away causes their parents a great deal of distress. In other ways, the Kincaids’ adventure showcases how creative and capable kids can be: for example, Claudia anticipates that running away will require a lot of foresight and planning. She plans the best time for them to leave—music lesson day, so that they can pack their instrument cases with extra clothes and nobody will notice. Claudia even figures out how to outsmart adults, like dodging the museum guards during closing and opening. Even though Jamie is clearly less mature than Claudia, he is smarter with money and successfully stretches their meager budget for days. Finally, instead of giving up when their investigation doesn’t reveal the angel sculpture’s origins, Claudia insists they visit Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the statue’s previous owner. And when Mrs. Frankweiler challenges the kids to find hidden evidence, they quickly figure out a system for searching her messy files. Thus, while the novel makes it clear that running away isn’t a wise thing for children to do, it does suggest that if kids use their talents and work together, they can do amazing things.
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Independence, Capability, and Creativity ThemeTracker
Independence, Capability, and Creativity Quotes in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn’t like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place. And that’s why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
And in the course of those miles Claudia stopped regretting bringing Jamie along. In fact when they emerged from the train at Grand Central into the underworld of cement and steel that leads to the terminal, Claudia felt that having Jamie there was important. […] And his money and radio were not the only reasons. Manhattan called for the courage of at least two Kincaids.
“Manning their stations” meant climbing back into the booths and waiting during the perilous time when the museum was open to the staff but not to visitors. They washed up, combed their hair, and even brushed their teeth. Then began those long moments. That first morning they weren’t quite sure when the staff would arrive, so they hid good and early. While Claudia stood crouched down waiting, the emptiness and the hollowness of all the museum corridors filled her stomach. She was starved. She spent her time trying not to remember delicious things to eat.
“A museum spokesman said yesterday, ‘Whether or not conclusive proof will be found that this was the work of Michelangelo, we are pleased with our purchase.’ Although Michelangelo Buonarroti is perhaps best known for his paintings of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, he always considered himself a sculptor, and primarily a sculptor of marble. The question of whether the museum has acquired one of his lesser known masterpieces still awaits a final answer.”
Claudia didn’t think about their close calls. They were unimportant; they wouldn’t matter in the end, the end having something to do with Michelangelo, Angel, history, and herself.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party;
Dear Museum Head,
We think that you should examine the bottom of the statue for an important clue. The statue we mean is the ocn you bought for $225.00. And the clue is that you will find Michelangelo’s stone* mason’s markk on the bottom. If you need help about this clue, you may write to us at Grande Central Post Office. Box in Manhanttan.
Sincerely, Friends of the Museum
“Yes,” Claudia sighed. “Just a week. I feel as if I jumped into a lake to rescue a boy, and what I thought was a boy turned out to be a wet, fat log. Some heroine that makes. All wet for nothing.” The tears flowed again.
“You sure are getting wet. You started this adventure just running away. Comfortably. Then the day before yesterday you decided you had to be a hero, too.”
“Heroine. And how should I have known that I wanted to be a heroine when I had no idea I wanted to be a heroine? The statue just gave me a chance … almost gave me a chance. We need to make more of a discovery.”
“If only you’d tell me if the statue was done by Michelangelo. Then I would feel that I could go home again.”
“Why would that make a difference?” I asked.
“It would because … because …”
“Because you found that running away from home didn’t make a real difference? You were still the same Greenwich Claudia, planning and washing and keeping things in order?”
“I guess that’s right,” Claudia said quietly.
I was glad that I wasn’t dealing with a stupid child. I admired her spirit; but more, I wanted to help her see the value of her adventure. She still saw it as buying her something: appreciation first, information now. Nevertheless, Claudia was tiptoeing into the grown-up world. And I decided to give her a little shove. “Claudia. James. Both of you. Come with me.”
The other side of the paper needed no translation. For there, in the midst of sketches of hands and torsos was a sketch of someone they knew: Angel. There were the first lines of a thought that was to become a museum mystery 470 years later. There on that piece of old paper was the idea just as it had come from Michelangelo’s head to his hand, and he had jotted it down.
Claudia looked at the sketch until its image became blurred. She was crying.
