Wednesday, June 24, 2009

In Walk Two Moons, how is the theme developed through the characters' words and actions in the novel? Which character best illustrates this theme?...

In Walk Two Moons, everyone is indeed minding his own agenda, though Sal finds herself wrapped up in the agendas of others, which seem to be related to hers. Sal’s agenda is dealing with the loss of her mother. Phoebe and Ben have also lost their mother in some sense of the word. Ben’s mother was committed to a mental hospital. While he can (and does) visit her, he has “lost” her in the sense of what she had been before her illness. Still, he takes an interest in Sal instead of being so wrapped up in his own agenda.


Phoebe’s mother left to deal with the arrival of the son she gave up for adoption before she married Mr. Winterbottom. Phoebe, like Sal, cannot accept that her mother left of her own free will. It is easier for her to believe something or someone forced her to leave. Sal knows her own mother left voluntarily, but she feels that it still has something to her own inadequacy. She sees Phoebe’s inadequacies in appreciating her mother, which reflects on her own situation. It is Phoebe who most reflects the saying about everyone minding his or her own agenda. She has no concern for Sal’s or Ben’s agendas, but drags them into hers.


Sal helps both Ben and Phoebe “find” their mothers and thus fulfill their agendas. While she cannot return her mother to her home, Sal’s agenda becomes one of accepting her mother’s death and making a new home with just her father.

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