70 pages • 2 hours read
Kate DiCamilloBecause of Winn-Dixie
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 18-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary
Opal announces her two surprises for Gloria Dump, and gives her a Littmus Lozenge. Gloria remembers her dad eating them. Opal then reads to Gloria from Gone with the Wind, and Gloria says it is the best surprise she has ever gotten. Opal goes home and gives the preacher a lozenge that night before bed. The preacher shrinks back into his shell, a bit intimidated by the sadness he can taste in the lozenge. He says the taste reminds him of Opal’s mother. After that, the preacher insists Opal apologize for insulting Stevie Dewberry. Opal is hesitant, but finally agrees. Opal then asks the preacher about Carson, and the preacher tells Opal that Amanda’s five-year-old brother Carson died the year before while swimming. This makes Opal sad for Amanda. That night, Opal thinks about the way sadness can connect people: “I didn’t go to sleep right away. I lay there, and thought how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out” (126).
Chapter 19 Summary
The next morning Opal goes to the pet store and gives Otis a candy. Otis begins to cry—he says he loves the candy, but it reminds him a bit of being in jail. Opal musters up the nerve to finally ask Otis what happened. At first, Otis is hesitant, saying only that he is not dangerous. Finally, he reveals that he was arrested for playing his music on the street. People would give him money, and the police said this was illegal. They tried to handcuff Otis because he would not stop playing, so Otis punched one of the officers. When he got out of jail, he was told he could never play music on the street again, and since then he has been very lonely. Opal sweeps the floor very slowly that day, to keep Otis company. As she sweeps, she thinks, “Sometimes, it seemed like everybody in the world was lonely. I thought about my mama. Thinking about her was the same as the hole you keep on feeling with your tongue after you lose a tooth” (132).
Chapter 20 Summary
Opal tells Gloria Dump about Otis that day, and Gloria Dump laughs, because it is so ridiculous and so sad. Opal also tells her about Carson. Opal realizes that everyone has some sadness in them; Gloria agrees, saying, “I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart” (134). Opal then decides she is sick of thinking of sad things without resolution, so she picks up Gone with the Wind. While she is reading, she gets the idea to have a big party to cheer everyone up. She asks Gloria to help her, and Gloria agrees on the condition she invite the Dewberry boys. Opal goes around town inviting everyone—the preacher, Sweetie Pie, Miss Franny. She invites Amanda Wilkinson, who is confused but thankful. She invites the Dewberry boys—Stevie is rude, but Dunlap tells her they will be happy to come, and smiles. Finally, she invites Otis. Otis says no at first but agrees when Opal says he can play his guitar and not talk to anyone.
Chapter 21 Summary
Opal and Gloria Dump get ready for the party, making sandwiches and setting up tables, chairs, and candles outside. When Opal lights all the candles, it looks beautiful. Miss Franny brings Littmus Lozenges, and Sweetie Pie brings pictures of dogs to help decorate. Amanda comes, and Opal is excited to see her. Her newly discovered connection to Amanda startles her: “I was surprised at how glad I was to see Amanda. And I wanted to tell her I knew about Carson. I wanted to tell her I understood about losing people, but I did not say anything. I was just extra nice” (147). Finally, Opal hears Gertrude call out, but she does not see Otis. She goes to the front of the house, and Otis is holding a giant jar of pickles and his guitar. He seems afraid to go any further. Opal coaxes Otis into the party.
Chapters 18-21 Analysis
In these chapters, old stories and the introduction of the Littmus Lozenge cause Opal to feel great sadness but also great love. She is sad not only for herself, but for all those around her that experience pain. She talks to Gloria about this, who agrees with her, saying, “I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart” (134).
Opal becomes so overwhelmed by this pervasive sadness that she feels a desire to come together with Friends and Family. She surprises herself with her desire to love, and her ability to forgive people their idiosyncrasies once she better understands their pain. She notices this first with Amanda, saying, “I was surprised at how glad I was to see Amanda. And I wanted to tell her I knew about Carson. I wanted to tell her I understood about losing people, but I didn’t say anything. I was just extra nice” (147). Opal connects with Amanda over a shared grief, and her knowledge of that loss allows her to feel a deep empathy for someone she did not care for before. Opal begins Seeing With the Heart and learns, through this experience and others, that sadness can also bring joy, because it encourages people to be kind, and to rely on each other in times of need.
This complicated emotional landscape is symbolized in the Littmus Lozenge, which is delicious but also tastes of melancholy. Opal notes this symbolism as she tries to sleep: “I lay there, and thought how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out” (126).
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