The Wizard's Tide Character Analysis

The Wizard's Tide is a novella written by Frederick Buechner. This story highlights the struggles many families went through during the Great Depression, a time of severe economic downturn which had led to many struggling not only financially but emotionally and mentally as well. One of the most difficult things for people to do in this time was to transition from living in a life of luxury to one where some even had next to nothing. Some were not able to accept this fact and had trouble fully adjusting to their new circumstances. But this was not entirely their fault, many factors played into this and some were so great it greatly impaired their ability to adapt to this new change. Mrs. Schroeder is an excellent example of this and after
Buechner uses Mrs. Schroeder to develop the idea that a person’s ability to change is heavily dependant on past experiences and the inability to do so can often lead to people having unrealistic expectations.

Experiences in our past build the foundations of who we are and can greatly affect how we react in certain situations. Mrs. Schroeder shows throughout the course of the novella that she struggles with adapting to her new surroundings by consistently building the illusions for herself of a wealthy lifestyle. But why is that? When looking back at her past we see a young girl preoccupied in things such as “call[ing] up the tobacco store” or “Hail a streetcar”, things describing a carefree childhood, one with not many responsibilities. Though this may only seem like a young girl enjoying her youth and therefore harmless, these experiences in childhood coupled with the fact she live in a very wealthy family are the building blocks of who she is. This is because childhood is a time when many people develop key experiences that help define who they are. Many characteristics and habits created in childhood carry on into adulthood and as a result can be very difficult to change. When a person who grew up in a life