Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Walk Two Moons, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Judgment, Perspective, and Storytelling
Parents, Children, and Growing Up
Grief
Nature
Summary
Analysis
On Saturday morning, Phoebe arrives at Sal’s house with a suitcase. Sal takes Phoebe up to her room, and Phoebe observes that there’s only one bed. She says that hosts should make their guests comfortable, so Sal should sleep on the couch. Sal knows why Phoebe is acting like this, even if it makes her angry. Phoebe continues to insult things like Sal’s mattress, and she insists that Sal should “make some sacrifices” for her guest. That’s what Mrs. Winterbottom always says.
In order to connect with and remember Mrs. Winterbottom, Phoebe is doing everything in her power to channel her mother. In this case, that means trying to force Sal to “make some sacrifices” for the sake of being polite. However, while Mrs. Winterbottom taught Phoebe how to be a good host, she seemingly neglected to teach her how to be a good guest.
Themes
Sal snaps and says that Mrs. Winterbottom made a huge sacrifice when she “took off,” but Phoebe maintains that her mother was kidnapped. Phoebe unloads her clothes into Sal’s closet and then says she’s getting a migraine. Her aunt’s doctor got migraines, and it turned out the doctor had brain cancer. Phoebe says things like this all day. Sal starts to wonder if this is how Dad felt when Sal threw the temper tantrums—Sal hates Phoebe, even though she knows Phoebe is just upset.
Sal understands what Phoebe is going through, but that doesn’t make her behavior any easier or more pleasant to be around her. Again, witnessing Phoebe’s struggles helps Sal become more introspective and think critically about her own behavior. And as Sal wonders if Dad felt similarly annoyed by her, Sal also starts to think more generously about her father, realizing that he has been supporting her just as she’s been supporting Phoebe.
Themes
Sal and Phoebe go to Mary Lou’s after dinner. Sal sits down with Ben while Phoebe goes to look for Mary Lou, and Ben observes that Phoebe is driving Sal crazy. Sal agrees, and Ben says that Phoebe is probably lonely. Sal’s heart starts to pound, and she wants to reach out and touch Ben’s face. Instead, she goes inside, and from the window, she watches Mrs. Finney climb onto the garage roof. Mr. Finney joins her a few minutes later. They lie there, kissing, and Sal remembers how her parents acted with each other before the baby came. Ben comes into the kitchen, and Sal is gripped again with the desire to touch his face. Then, Phoebe marches into the kitchen and says that Mary Lou is on a date with their classmate Alex.
Ben, like Sal, seems empathetic and emotionally intuitive. No one else seems to recognize that Phoebe is just lonely and grasping for any attention she can get. This makes Ben seem even more attractive to Sal—he is, in this sense, a kindred spirit. Then, as Sal watches the Finneys kiss on their roof, she remembers how in love her parents used to be. The Finneys, in a way, show Sal how things could have been, had Tulip not died and had Momma not gone to Lewiston.
Themes
Sal sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor that night. She pretends to fall asleep right away. Dad pokes his head into the room a bit later to check on Phoebe—he heard her crying. Sal feels bad. She knows she should comfort Phoebe, but she also remembers just wanting to cry alone. That night, Sal dreams she’s looking through binoculars. She’s watching Momma climb a very tall ladder that just keeps going into the sky.
Sal is finding that it’s hard work to empathize with Phoebe and really comfort her. But at the same time, Sal also recognizes that Phoebe might not want to be comforted. Just as Sal didn’t want to hear Dad tell her the truth when Momma left, Phoebe might not want to accept any kindness or advice from Sal. Sal’s dream in this passage is similar to the other dream she had of herself and Momma floating together, first on the raft and then in the sky. The image of Sal looking up at Momma as she climbs higher and higher could suggest that Sal now feels more distant from her mother than she did when Momma first left—or it could simply reflect Sal’s feeling of smallness and helplessness in reaction to Momma leaving her behind.
Themes
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