46 pages • 1 hour read
Sharon CreechSaving Winslow
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Painting
The painting in Louie’s room symbolizes resilience. The image depicts a seemingly idyllic scene:
A boy tugging on a rope tied to a calf who was resisting being led. It looked like a gentle tug-of-war between the boy and the calf, each equally determined. Behind them were golden haystacks and open fields with chickens pecking here and there (75).
Despite the golden beauty around him, the boy is struggling to move the animal. However, the “gentle tug-of-war” suggests that the boy will succeed. The contrast between his struggle and the serene landscape is representative of Louie’s struggle at birth, and conflict in general. The connotation that the boy will be able to move the calf also hints at resilience. This same painting hung in the hospital wing near the intensive care unit where Louie was in an incubator after being born prematurely, a place his “parents had spent many hours after he was born,” and “something about the struggle of the boy and of the calf had spoken to them and calmed them” (76). The fact that they obtained a copy of the painting for their house implies that they see Louie—and by extension, themselves—in the image. They are calmed, though, because they recognize that hardship is part of life and that the boy, and Louie, will make it. Furthermore, because the artist’s name is Winslow, there is the additional connection to Louie’s donkey, who himself has struggled to overcome a difficult birth and the loss of his mother. Therefore, the painting, Louie, and Winslow are inextricably linked by their representation of resilience.
The Bear
The bear Louie saw when he was five symbolizes the concept of fearing the worst. Alone in his backyard, Louie spies a bear “lurking beside the oak tree near the garage,” and in his extreme fear, “he wanted to scream but could not. No sound would come out of his mouth. He wanted to run but could not” (94). Paralyzed by his terror, he assumed the worst would happen. All he could do was curl into a ball on the ground. Louie was motionless for so long, he fell asleep. When he woke, he thought the bear was scratching him, but it was actually Gus. After he shared what happened, Gus strode toward the animal and grabbed it: “He was holding a puffy brown jacket” (96). The reality was far different from Louie’s perception, for his fear had not only frozen his body, but also his mind. He was so terrified that he was unable to see that what looked like an animal was actually a forgotten piece of clothing. This moment, tucked in between chapters about losing and finding Winslow, represents fearing the worst. Like being terrified of getting maimed by a bear, Louie is terrified that something terrible has happened to Winslow. Ultimately, the bear was only a jacket, and Winslow merely went on a walk with Nora.
The Leash
Winslow’s leash represents protection but is also a motif tied to the theme of The Benefits of Caregiving. Nora first offers a collar and a leash when Winslow is strong enough to go for a walk. The animal still needs care at this point, for he is recovering from a difficult birth and a subsequent infection. When she and Louie place the items on him, they take him to the sledding hill. The collar and leash protect Winslow from running off or getting into something that could harm him. As the donkey grows stronger, they walk frequently until after the fire when Louie realizes that Winslow would be better off at the farm and, “that day, Louie and Nora took Winslow for one last walk up to the top of the sledding hill” (158). The last walk represents the final stroll on a leash for Winslow, for after this day he will not need to be tethered to anything. Earlier when Louie suggests that Winslow go to Uncle Pete’s to protect the animals, the boy understands that the donkey no longer needs his help to survive; in fact, Winslow is ready to care for others, namely the helpless lambs. In this way, the leash not only represents nurturing and love, but is also connected to Louie’s growing maturity, for the boy realizes that the leash is not needed any more, and it is time to let go and allow the donkey to have “an important job [that] he’d be good at” (157). This realization underscores Louie’s growth, for even though he loves Winslow, he knows that what he wants most—to keep the donkey close to him—is not what is best for Winslow. He makes the mature decision to send the donkey to Uncle Pete’s farm without the leash, for Winslow no longer needs his protection.
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By Sharon Creech
