Walk Two Moons
Sharon Creech
Summary
Salamanca Tree Hiddle, a brave but fragile 13 year old girl journeys from Euclid, Ohio to Lewiston, Idaho with her grandparents to visit her mother. Along the way she tells stories about Phoebe Winterbottom her imaginative and paranoid best friend from Euclid, Ohio. While following in her mother's footsteps, traveling the same route to Idaho, and telling stories about Phoebe, she discovers and learns more about herself.
Thesis Statement
Characters in the novel misjudge three characters because they fail to "walk two moons in their moccasins;" these misjudgments are later proven wrong.
Mrs. Cadaver
Mrs. Cadaver, a widow, is wrongly judged by Phoebe because of her name, her looks and misinterpretation of things Phoebe saw her do. Phoebe and Sal see the red haired raspy voiced Mrs. Cadaver in her yard chopping up trees and lugging them across her yard. Phoebe thinks that since Mrs. Cadaver is as strong as an ox, that she chopped up her husband and buried him in the backyard. (32) Mrs. Cadaver recklessly pulled into her driveway and crazily pulled things out of her car and dumped them on her driveway while Ben, Sal and Phoebe were walking home from school. Ben offered to help and picked up a shiny new axe off of the sidewalk. This convinces Phoebe and Sal once more that she is a murderer. (68) Mr. Birkway, Sal's English teacher is reading his student's journals in class. When he reads Phoebe's journal it states that Mrs. Cadaver is a murderer, so after school he stops by Phoebe's house and tells her the truth about his sister, Mrs. Cadaver. Mrs. Cadaver's husband was hit and killed by a drunk driver in a car accident. (218)
Mike Bickle
Mike Bickle, a college student, is judged by Phoebe as being a lunatic because of his appearance and he seemed to be stalking Phoebe. Mike Bickle walked up to Phoebe's house when her parents were not home, asking to talk with Phoebe's mom. He was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with curly messy hair and pink flushed cheeks and seemed nervous, glancing left to right and not at Phoebe. Phoebe thinks that he is a crazy and dangerous lunatic. Phoebe believes that he is hiding a gun or knife and wants to kill her family. (42-45) Mike Bickle approached Phoebe and Sal on their way home, he addressed them. Phoebe pushed him and they ran to Phoebe's house. They think that he's stalking them. (118) Phoebe and Sal went to Mike Bickle's dorm to confront him about the whereabouts of Phoebe's mother because they thought Mike Bickle had kidnapped her. Since Mike Bickle wasn't at his dorm, they left. On the way out, they saw Mike Bickle hugging Mrs. Winterbottom. All Mike wanted to do was to meet his mother who gave him up for adoption. He was very nervous. (235)
Mrs. Winterbottom
Mrs. Winterbottom is being judged because of her actions and secrets. She left without telling anybody she was leaving and never telling her family she had a baby when she wasn't married. Phoebe told her mom about the lunatic and Mrs. Winterbottom started to cry. Mrs. Winterbottom said "I think we better not mention this to your father." Then Phoebe said "That's odd. Usually my mother tells my father absolutely everything." Mrs. Winterbottom clearly wants this to be a secret. Phoebe thinks her mother is being unusual and odd.(50) Phoebe's mom came home from running errands and she looked terrible. She was sniffling and blowing her nose. Phoebe didn't even bother to ask Mrs. Winterbottom why she was upset and thought she was being strange again. (87) Mrs. Winterbottom came home with Mike Bickle. Mrs. Winterbottom left because she wanted to spend time with Mike Bickle, her son she gave up for adoption. She was finally ready to tell her family about him and was sorry for not telling her family about her son and not being respectable. (247-248)
Conclusion
Mrs. Cadaver, Mike Bickle, and Mrs. Winterbottom are misjudged throughout the book on their actions, appearance and their emotions. Later on Phoebe and Sal discover the truth about these characters and reasons for their behaviors. Phoebe and Sal learn to walk in their moccasins and understand their situation before judging them and jumping to conclusions. After discovering the truth about these characters Phoebe and Sal learn more about these characters and themselves.