Tuck Everlasting

by

Natalie Babbitt

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Tuck Everlasting makes teaching easy.

The Man in the Yellow Suit Character Analysis

The villain of the novel. He's never named but is described as being in constant motion and moving like a marionette. He travels to Treegap from the west in search of the Tucks, whom he heard about from his grandmother, who knew Miles’s wife, and his mother; his mother played with Anna, Miles's daughter, as a girl and told the man in the yellow suit stories about the family that never aged. He dedicates his life to finding them and when he discovers the Tucks with Winnie, he offers to bring them in on his business plan to sell the water to "deserving" people. The way he talks about this betrays that he's extremely classist, as he suggests that the Tucks--who are very poor--aren't deserving people and refers to them as "illiterates" when he speaks to Winnie's parents. He strikes a deal with Winnie's father to bring Winnie back in exchange for assuming ownership of the wood. When he attempts to take Winnie away from the Tucks and threatens to make her drink the water so that she can prove to potential buyers how well it works, Mae hits him over the head with the butt of her rifle, ultimately killing him.

The Man in the Yellow Suit Quotes in Tuck Everlasting

The Tuck Everlasting quotes below are all either spoken by The Man in the Yellow Suit or refer to The Man in the Yellow Suit. 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:
The Purpose of Living Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

No connection, you would agree. But things can come together in strange ways. The wood was at the center, the hub of the wheel. All wheels must have a hub. A Ferris wheel has one, as the sun is the hub of the wheeling calendar. Fixed points they are, and best left undisturbed, for without them, nothing holds together. But sometimes people find this out too late.

Related Characters: Winnie Foster, Mae Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seventeen Quotes

"It'd be nice," she said, "if nothing ever had to die."

"Well now, I don't know," said Miles. "If you think on it, you come to see there'd be so many creatures, including people, we'd all be squeezed in right up next to each other before long."

Related Characters: Winnie Foster (speaker), Miles Tuck (speaker), Angus Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Related Symbols: The Boat and the Pond
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Nineteen Quotes

"Not Winnie!" she said between clenched teeth. "You ain't going to do a thing like that to Winnie. And you ain't going to give out the secret." Her strong arms swung the shotgun round her head, like a wheel. The man in the yellow suit jerked away, but it was too late. With a dull cracking sound, the stock of the shotgun smashed into the back of his skull. He dropped like a tree, his face surprised, his eyes wide open.

Related Characters: Mae Tuck (speaker), Winnie Foster, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty Quotes

And then Winnie said something she had never said before, but the words were words she had sometimes heard, and often longed to hear. They sounded strange on her own lips and made her sit up straighter. "Mr. Tuck," she said, "don't worry. Everything's going to be all right."

Related Characters: Winnie Foster (speaker), Mae Tuck, Angus Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit, The Constable
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-One Quotes

"You mean, if he dies," Winnie had said, flatly, and they had sat back, shocked. Soon after, they put her to bed, with many kisses. But they peered at her anxiously over their shoulders as they tiptoed out of her bedroom, as if they sensed that she was different now from what she had been before. As if some part of her had slipped away.

Related Characters: Winnie Foster, The Man in the Yellow Suit, Granny, Winnie's Mother, Winnie's Father
Related Symbols: The Boat and the Pond
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:

Was Mae weeping now for the man in the yellow suit? In spite of her wish to spare the world, did she wish he were alive again? There was no way of knowing. But Mae had done what she thought she had to do.

Related Characters: Winnie Foster, Mae Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Related Symbols: Winnie's Rocking Chair
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis:
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Tuck Everlasting PDF

The Man in the Yellow Suit Quotes in Tuck Everlasting

The Tuck Everlasting quotes below are all either spoken by The Man in the Yellow Suit or refer to The Man in the Yellow Suit. 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:
The Purpose of Living Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

No connection, you would agree. But things can come together in strange ways. The wood was at the center, the hub of the wheel. All wheels must have a hub. A Ferris wheel has one, as the sun is the hub of the wheeling calendar. Fixed points they are, and best left undisturbed, for without them, nothing holds together. But sometimes people find this out too late.

Related Characters: Winnie Foster, Mae Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seventeen Quotes

"It'd be nice," she said, "if nothing ever had to die."

"Well now, I don't know," said Miles. "If you think on it, you come to see there'd be so many creatures, including people, we'd all be squeezed in right up next to each other before long."

Related Characters: Winnie Foster (speaker), Miles Tuck (speaker), Angus Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Related Symbols: The Boat and the Pond
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Nineteen Quotes

"Not Winnie!" she said between clenched teeth. "You ain't going to do a thing like that to Winnie. And you ain't going to give out the secret." Her strong arms swung the shotgun round her head, like a wheel. The man in the yellow suit jerked away, but it was too late. With a dull cracking sound, the stock of the shotgun smashed into the back of his skull. He dropped like a tree, his face surprised, his eyes wide open.

Related Characters: Mae Tuck (speaker), Winnie Foster, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty Quotes

And then Winnie said something she had never said before, but the words were words she had sometimes heard, and often longed to hear. They sounded strange on her own lips and made her sit up straighter. "Mr. Tuck," she said, "don't worry. Everything's going to be all right."

Related Characters: Winnie Foster (speaker), Mae Tuck, Angus Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit, The Constable
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-One Quotes

"You mean, if he dies," Winnie had said, flatly, and they had sat back, shocked. Soon after, they put her to bed, with many kisses. But they peered at her anxiously over their shoulders as they tiptoed out of her bedroom, as if they sensed that she was different now from what she had been before. As if some part of her had slipped away.

Related Characters: Winnie Foster, The Man in the Yellow Suit, Granny, Winnie's Mother, Winnie's Father
Related Symbols: The Boat and the Pond
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:

Was Mae weeping now for the man in the yellow suit? In spite of her wish to spare the world, did she wish he were alive again? There was no way of knowing. But Mae had done what she thought she had to do.

Related Characters: Winnie Foster, Mae Tuck, The Man in the Yellow Suit
Related Symbols: Winnie's Rocking Chair
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis: