Walk two moons
by Sharon Crech
Summery
Sal’s mother leaves to travel the US but in Idaho she sends a postcard saying that she will not be coming back. While Sal is on a road trip with her grandparents to visit her mother she tells them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, a girl she met in Euclid, Ohio. The story about Phoebe helped Sal deal with her mother leaving her.
Thesis/Judgments
Throughout the novel Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech, the main characters prejudge people before they have taken any time to "walk two moons in their moccasins". Their judgments are later proven wrong.
Mrs Cadaver
Sal and Phoebe think that Mrs. Cadaver killed her husband. One afternoon, Phoebe tells Sal what she thinks happened to Mr. Cadaver. "I have seen her chop down trees and lug their remains clear across the yard. Do you know what I think? I think that Mrs. Cadaver chopped him up and buried him in the backyard,"(32). Phoebe thinks that Mrs. Cadaver killed her husband because her last name means “dead body” and in her opinion, she has spooky red hair, and a voice like dead leaves. When they see Mr. Birkway pull up to Mrs. Cadavers house, Phoebe added to her theory, "As I told you before. Maybe Mr. Birkway helped her chop up her husband and bury him and maybe they were getting worried and decided to disguise it the spot with the Rhododendron bush"(86). Phoebe thinks that Mrs. Cadaver planted a rhododendron bush on top of the place where she buried her husband. They find out the truth when Mr. Birkway comes to Phoebe's house after school one day to tell them what really happened. "Mr. Birkway said her husband died when a drunk driver rammed into his car", (218).
Mike Bickle
Phoebe and her friends misjudge Mike Bickle thinking that he is a lunatic. They first see Mike Bickle at Phoebe’s front door asking for her mother. Phoebe starts to jump to conclusions about Mike Bickle and asked. “Sal, do you detect any kind of lunacy?” (43) Phoebe thought he was a lunatic and that he was dangerous. At first, Sal was not as sure as Phoebe that Mike Bickel was a lunatic. However, as time passed Phoebe was able to convince her that he was a lunatic. They see him again walking home from school. Sal thought “I was grateful that we are nearly at Phoebe’s house, so that if he stabbed us in broad daylight, maybe one of her neighbors would discover our bodies and take us to the hospital before we let bled entirely to death. I was beginning to believe that he was a lunatic” (119). They find out the truth when Mrs. Winterbottom comes home. Much to their surprise “Mrs. Winterbottom said, ‘Mike is my son,’” (248). The reason why Mike asked for Mrs. Winterbottom is because he was looking for his real mother and he has reason to believe that his mother is Mrs. Winterbottom.
Mrs. Winterbottom
Phoebe misjudges her mom thinking that she is happy with her small life. While Sal is at Phoebe’s house she makes a realization. “I had a funny feeling that Mrs. Winterbottom did not like all this baking and cleaning and laundry and shopping, and I’m not quite sure why I had that feeling because if you ust listening to the words she said it sounded as if she was Mrs. Supreme housewife"(30). Phoebe thinks that her mother likes to be “Mrs. Supreme housewife” and is happy living a small life. Sal notices Mrs. Winterbottom comes home with the groceries and comments. “'It looked like as if she had been crying. Maybe something is bothering her.’
'Don't you think she would say so then."' (88) Sal sees that Mrs. Winterbottom is unhappy but Phoebe can or will not notice that her mother had been upset. The truth is that Mrs. Winterbottom is afraid that Mr. Winterbottom would divorce her if she was not respectable. “She was talking about being respectful and how Mr. Winterbottom would never forgive her, but she was tired of being so respectable. She tried very, very hard all these years to be perfect.”(247)
Conclusion
Throughout the novel Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech, Sal and Phoebe misjudge people because they have only looked at it from their own biased view. After the story unfolds they learned the truth about Mrs. Cadaver, Mike Bickel and Mrs. Winterbottom. They learn to look at a problem from both points of view.