Hope Was Here

“I can remember running up the welcome stairways at my house as a boy. My mother always said that the stairways symbolized how we must greet whatever changes and difficulties life may bring with firm faith in God.”

The idea of welcome stairways in Quaker culture refers to their belief in the equality of all people regardless of race or gender. People take the two sets of steps separately but come together at the top to enter the building, symbolizing unity. G.T. often refers to the Quaker values his mother imparted to him that guide not only how he runs his diner but also his political ethics and the way he deals with hardship.

“I’d written out my favorite definition of my name on a three-by-five card; I needed extra help in the hoping department.”

Hope has a small list of prized possessions, one of which is her dictionary. Hope often looks up words, even her name, and writes down the definitions and synonyms. The practice becomes a motif in the story but also symbolizes Hope’s quest to define who she is. She looks for concrete answers inside the dictionary but often finds them lacking in meaning. Ultimately, Hope learns to define herself through her connection to others, not by a definition in a book.

“To quote Shirley Polanski, head waitress as the Humdinger Diner: ‘Beware of a big man whose stomach doesn’t move when he laughs.’”

This quote exemplifies the humor that runs throughout the story. Hope’s interior monologue is full of witty one-liners. This quote also exemplifies the catalog of memories Hope carries with her from all the places she has worked. She maintains a connection to each place, but she mostly remembers the people and how they made her feel like she belonged.

“A creaking door of friendship was opening.”

Hope relies on making fast connections to people to help her become acclimated to a new place. When Braverman proves to be more reserved and withdrawn than most people, she worries that they aren’t finding a connection. The author uses a metaphor to explain Hope’s feelings as she senses that their relationship is moving forward as an open door feels like an opportunity.

“The rest of the morning went down like cold rolls with a hot meal.”

Having grown up immersed in the culinary world, Hope often uses food metaphors to convey how she feels. Rolls are best served warm, and swallowing cold bread is difficult and can feel like choking. The metaphor conveys the difficulty the teenagers faced in convincing people to support G.T.’s mayoral candidacy.

“Boy, I would make a lousy Quaker.”

The more time Hope spends around G.T., the more she learns about his Quaker roots. Quakers are people committed to peace and nonviolence. Their religious services are completely silent, and no one speaks until they feel they have a message from God. As a loud, outspoken teenager with anger issues, Hope knows she would struggle to adhere to Quaker standards.

“There are ploppers, slammers, sliders, swivelers, and my personal favorite, flutterers, who poise suspended above the seat and move up and down over it before finally lighting.”

The author uses onomatopoeia in Hope’s descriptions of the diner customers who prefer sitting at the counter to convey the sounds they make when sitting down. The use of sensory language gives the reader the experience of being inside the diner. The quote also displays Hope’s unique love of diner life and working as a server.

“Well, come on over here and meet my memories.”

When G.T. introduces Hope to his trees, it is a turning point in their relationship as she learns more about him as a person. He personifies the trees as his memories as he has planted one for each important person in his life. Later in the story, when Hope becomes his adopted daughter, she becomes a part of his tree-planting ritual.

“I didn’t hold out much hope for this flower. It looked withered, closed, and utterly dead.”

Mavis Pettibone’s daylily gift is a symbol of her hope in G.T.’s mayoral candidacy and for his life. Though it looks on the verge of death, Mavis encourages Hope to give it plenty of light and it will thrive again. This is a reminder to Hope to live in the light of optimism and positive thinking despite whatever challenges she faces.

“I don’t live in what-ifs, Jillian. I go with what’s on the menu.”

Hope’s life circumstances have forced her to be a pragmatist. She isn’t dreamy or romantic and thus holds a realistic outlook for her chances at a relationship with Braverman. Once again referencing what she knows, Hope uses a food metaphor to explain her straightforward approach to life—she looks at her choices and decides.

“Batten down the hatches. That’s what Brenda Babcock has said. I felt a huge wind picking up everything that wasn’t nailed down.”

The phrase “batten down the hatches” originates in maritime language and refers to tightening up everything on a vessel at sea to prepare for an approaching storm. The use of the phrase relates to the sailing and ship motif that permeates the narrative. Brenda’s words also foreshadow potential trouble in town as the mayoral race intensifies and Millstone resorts to fraud and violence to ensure his victory.

“[F]or me, an average American teenager, knowing there are real people in the public eye or anywhere who are trustworthy and kind makes the whole thing worth it.”

Through her depictions of teenagers giving their time to civic and community work, the author overturns the notion that teenagers are selfish and immature. Hope’s comments to the reporter show that teens do care about what happens in their community and that even though they are of voting age, they still have a vested interest in leadership since it directly correlates to their future.

“Deena Does Motherhood.”

Hope once again relies on her humor to pull her through a difficult situation. Meetings with her mother feel awkward and performative. She uses the movie title trope to describe Deena’s paltry attempt at being a mother.

“It was an excellent kiss-the kind where you feel your stomach burn hot and you know it’s not from indigestion.”

Though Hope and Braverman’s romance is not the main plot of the narrative, their relationship meets a satisfying moment when they finally exchange a kiss. Humorously, Hope uses a food metaphor to describe the way the kiss made her feel.

“It was the kind of light that could open a daylily in the middle of a long, cold night.”

As G.T.’s campaign picks up speed, it restores Hope’s faith in the goodness of men. G.T. is the antithesis of Gleason, who stole from them and ruined their lives. She returns to the symbol of Mrs. Pettibone’s daylily as a reminder to stay positive and look for the light in every situation. Hope sees her life without a positive male role model as a cold darkness, and G.T. is her ray of hope.

“And hope fluttered into the room like a butterfly getting ready to light.”

Butterflies often symbolize hope for a fresh start as they begin life as a caterpillar and, after chrysalis, emerge as a new creature.

“When I left Brooklyn I would have paid money to get out of making this move. Now, here I was, working with other kids to help get a good man elected.”

With perspective on her side, Hope can now see the positive side of their move to Mulhoney.

“You don’t understand the power of loss when it first hits you like a baseball coming fast from an out-of-control pitcher. You reel back stinging from the blow.”

Hope has come to learn that life is a series of ups and downs; however, despite being a realist, she is never prepared for the pain of loss and disappointment. The author uses a baseball metaphor to convey Hope’s sadness over G.T.’s election defeat.

“And you could have knocked me over with a cheap tip when I saw the name of my cranky customer, Mr. Woldenburg, there on the voting roster.”

Hope uses an idiom to explain her astonishment that Mr. Woldenburg did not vote in the election. By developing relationships with her customers, Hope proves herself to be a caring server, no matter how grumpy the customer is. Her relationship with Mr. Woldenburg provides the avenue to expose Millstone’s election fraud and prove G.T. the rightful winner of the election.

“We stood firm, 297 frozen teenagers dressed like Eskimos it was so mind-numbingly cold, and held a candlelight vigil outside Town Hall singing ‘We Shall Overcome.’”

“We Shall Overcome” is a protest song made popular during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and protesters would sing it at sit-ins. After Hope discovers voter fraud from the Millstone campaign, she and her fellow student volunteers take to the streets to protest the election and demand action. They sing the protest song, which symbolizes unity and the strength of a group to exact change in society.

“There. That’s what’s going to happen to us. It’s called grafting. Taking something from one place and fixing it to another until they grow together.”

In horticulture, the process of grafting involves taking a cutting from one species and attaching it to another to create an entirely new species of plant. The term here is used as a symbol of G.T. merging his family tree with Addie and Hope’s to create a new family. The process is particularly symbolic for Hope as she has always struggled with knowing her identity.

“But I think Mr. Webster didn’t get it quite right.”

Noah Webster is the author of the American English Dictionary. Continuing with her obsession with defining words, Hope looks up the definition of “father” but finds the dictionary’s description lacking. Even though G.T. is not her biological father, he embodies all the characteristics of a good dad for Hope.

“I closed my eyes; felt in my heart a brush of angels’ wings, and sensed those angels coming up the welcome stairways, one from the left and one from the right, to guide G.T.’s spirit on the flight up to heaven.”

When G.T. dies, Hope imagines his mother and wife appearing as angels to escort him to heaven. Symbolically, they ascend the welcome stairways, an emblem of unity, reuniting G.T. with his two great loves. It is also symbolic that G.T. dies at home, above the diner he loves so dearly.