Walk Two Moons Character Analysis

Moving states, meeting a lunatic, and losing your mother, turns out to be more valuable than meeting your mother, learning the truth, and knowing why your father had a bizarre relationship with a woman Sal believes is a murderer. Throughout the novel,Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech, Sal the main character and her father move from their farm in Bybanks, Kentucky, to an unknown place to them in Euclid, Ohio. Once they reach Euclid, Sal learns that her father met a woman, not just any woman, a woman by the name of Mrs.Cadaver who was with Sal’s mother during her last breaths. While in Euclid, Sal meets a girl named Phoebe. Phoebe and Sal become best friends and go on a wild ride together. Sal, and her grandparents decide they are going to go
on a road trip to Lewiston, Idaho to go see Sal’s mother. While on the ride Sal tells stories of her and Phoebe, which turns out to be very important to the novel. Once in Lewiston, Sal learns reality and must face it. Sal’s perspective changes from thinking negative to thinking and acting positive. As a result, her identity changes because because she starts facing the honest truth of herself and how she reacts towards others and situations. Therefore, her empathy for others affects the way she acts towards people in her life.
In the novel, Sal’s way of thinking adjusts from thinking negative to thinking and acting positive.
In the beginning of the novel, Sal was very negative about any situation that got in her way. During this quote, Sal is explaining the differences between Euclid and Bybanks,”No swimming hole, no barn, no cows, no chickens, no pigs” (10.) In this quote, Sal is seeing everything in Euclid negative, which makes her feel and act very differently than if she was in Bybanks. Her perspective starts to develop her as first she hates life in Euclid which affects the way she sees things. In the middle of the novel, Sal’s perspective of the world starts to change from negative to positive because Sal starts to realize that life isn’t so bad in Euclid and that if she just gave it some time, she would start to feel more comfortable. During this quote, Sal is saying that when something is going bad, she had hope that everything would be good. “For the first time, it occurred to me that maybe my mother’s leaving had nothing whatsoever to do with me”(169.) In this quote, Sal is beginning to see that Euclid isn’t that bad and has learned more of herself about how she adapts to situations. Sal is also beginning to change attitudes of how she views the world and the situations she is in. In this quote, Sal is starting to get better understanding of why her father didn’t take her to Idaho. “I also realized that there were lots of reasons why my father didn’t take me to Idaho when he got the new
of her death. He was too grief-stricken, and he was trying to spare me.” Sal has learned throughout the book to get more information instead of jumping to conclusions. She is also now thinking positively of why her father didn’t take her to Idaho instead of negatively. Therefore, Sal has learned to calm down and wait instead of instantly jumping to conclusions.
In the novel, Sal’s reaction to certain situations and what she learns about herself affects her identity throughout the novel. During the beginning of the book, Sal chose not to adapt to her new home in Euclid, making her a stubborn person. In this quote, Sal is saying all the things her father did when they moved to Euclid. “Just over a year ago, my father plucked me up like a weed and took me and all our belongings (no, that is not true-he did not bring the chestnut tree, the willow, the maple, the hayloft, or the swimming hole) and we drove three hundred miles north and stopped in front of a house in Euclid, Ohio.” Sal in the beginning of the book didn’t want to move, and she felt as if her father had not considered consulting with her before they moved. This affects her identity as a person because she is now viewed as a sassy girl that is very stubborn. During the middle of the book Sal is beginning to change in how she views her situations. In this quote, Sal is thinking of Mr.Winterbottom crying about Phoebe’s mother leaving and how she felt more bad for him, than her own father. “I thought about Mr.Winterbottom crying. That was the saddest thing. It was sadder than seeing my own father cry, because my father is the sort of person you expect might cry if he was terribly upset” (190). Sal’s reaction to Phoebe’s mother leaving has affected her because if this were to happen earlier, Sal would have ignored it and focus on why her mother left and continue thinking of herself instead of others. In the end of the book, Sal is learning the new way of life knowing her mother is dead and how is in denial, but accepts. “And even though Mrs.Cadaver had told me all this and had told me how she had been with my mother in her last minutes, I still did not believe that my mother was actually dead.” Sal is learning to deal with the honest truth about her mother and the way she reacts to this is completely different than in the way she would’ve reacted in the beginning. Sal at the beginning would’ve just given up on life, and just mourn. It is clearly stated that Sal has changed the way people view her identity throughout the book.
Throughout the novel, Sal is beginning to realize empathy is very important in order to learn more about yourself and others.
During the beginning of the book, Sal refused to empathize with others because she thought she had a bigger problem at hand, her mother. In this quote, Sal refuses to empathize with her father and how he Mrs.Cadaver, and her relevance to their family. “Who cares? I thought. Who cares how he met Mrs.Cadaver?” Sal isn’t looking at her father’s perspective and is lacking empathy to her father. She is also disrespecting her father which affects the way she is viewed. In the middle of the novel, Sal is beginning to empathize with Phoebe, when her mother leaves instead of being stubborn and ignoring. “I felt bad for Phoebe. I knew I should get up and try to be nice, but I remembered when I had felt like that, and I knew that sometimes you just wanted to be alone with the birds of sadness.” Sal is starting to empathize with others because instead of forcing a situation with Phoebe she remembers how she felt when her mother left and decided to give Phoebe space and time. At the end of the novel Sal is empathizing with people in all sorts of situations. In this quote, Sal is starting to learn more about herself than at the beginning. “It seems to me that we can’t explain all the truly awful things in the world like war and murder and brain tumors and we can’t fix these things, so we look at the frightening things that are closer to us and we magnify them
until they burst open. Sal has learned that it is impossible to not be scared and that all she can do is face it. Sal throughout the novel has empathized in many ways.
Throughout the book Sal changes from being negative to positive. As a result, Sal learned empathy is more important to other people and the way she empathizes affects her identity. Throughout the novel Sal has taught that people learn about themselves when they meet new people and the way they react to certain situations