The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1995

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapter 13-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Vocabulary

Essay Topics

Quiz

Themes

Growing Up and Growing Wiser

Kenny’s thoughts, actions, and reactions all demonstrate a character who is struggling with growing up. Readers see in Kenny a youthful narrator whose family makes up the biggest part of his world, along with school peers and teachers. He shows his gullibility in relaying how he lost his dinosaurs to LJ, but there is also the sense of a push in Kenny to mature. For example, with each of Byron’s stories (such as the frozen, dead Southerners in the garbage trucks and the Wool Pooh), Kenny feels like he should know better than to believe Byron and that he is too grown up for Byron to sell made-up nonsense. Kenny realizes, however, that he is tempted frequently to go along with what Byron tells him: “I wanted to know too. Even though I was in fourth grade I fell for a lot of the stuff Byron came up with. He made everything seem real interesting and important” (52). Kenny also shares his desire to be more grown-up to his father, referencing his old pastime of pretend shaving—"Aww, man, I’m way too old for that. Besides, I’m starting to get a real mustache” (105)—and in his interior monologue when Byron refuses to go to Collier’s Landing with him: “Maybe Byron was getting sick of having more Fantastic Adventures, but I figured I was getting old enough to have some myself” (171).

The bombing drives Kenny into a mentally and emotionally fragile state in which he seeks comfort, shelter, and healing in the “Watson Pet Hospital.” Ironically, he presumes his sadness and grief for the lives lost and the fear he feels from his family’s close call with tragedy are feelings of maturity instead. He rejects almost all activity, including dinosaur make-believe time with Rufus: “I was getting too mature to play with toys anymore” (195). It is notable that, unlike a typical 10-year-old’s reaction to growing too old for something he or she used to do, this push to be more grown-up unnaturally stems from the trauma of the bombing; consequently, when Kenny recovers emotionally with Byron’s help, one of the first things he acknowledges is a desire to play dinosaurs again.

Growing older and wiser is also exemplified by other characters. Grandma Sands is depicted as old and strict; though physically she is small, wrinkled, and weak, her age, confidence, and wisdom promote respect and deference from usually smart-mouthed Byron. Mrs. Watson compliments Joey’s behavior when Joey accepts and politely acknowledges the gift she receives from Mrs. Davidson; Joey displays mature behavior in that she does not like the gift at all but thanks the gift-giver. This theme also sends the plot in a new direction that impacts all main characters as Momma’s and Dad’s quest to bring Byron to maturity prompt the family’s trip to Birmingham.

The Importance and Devotion of Family

The manner in which the Watsons interact throughout the story, support one another in a variety of ways, and react to the Birmingham trip forms a central aspect of the story. Kenny’s days begin and end with his parents, Byron, and Joey nearby. He witnesses his siblings’ behaviors and frequently expresses joy, consternation, or confusion with their choices. They are a tight-knit family who can enjoy a good laugh together, such as when Dad teases Momma about Hambone Henderson. Momma and Dad also have strong senses of humor which they impart to the children; for example, Dad openly sees the humor in Byron’s getting stuck on the mirror, which shows Kenny that a bit of joking at the Lipless Wonder’s expense is allowed. Momma, Dad, Kenny, and Joey excitedly prepare for the family road trip, and the entire family experiences the wonder of being far from home in an unfamiliar place together: “What could be better than driving on a mountain while ‘Yakety Yak’ played and cool, light air blew all over you?” (148).

Momma and Dad strive to raise humble, well-behaved, polite children, as seen by Momma’s reaction to Byron’s comments about welfare and her attempt to discipline him for playing with matches. She praises Joey for reacting politely to Mrs. Davidson’s gift. Momma also encourages Kenny’s self-worth by assuring him he is handsome. This support and encouragement continue in Dad’s explanation to Kenny on how to parent and the reasons he and Momma made the hard choice for Byron to stay with Grandma Sands.

Though Byron is at times the antithesis of supportive to Kenny, he saves Kenny several times throughout the story because they are family. Byron stops Buphead from teasing Kenny for Kenny’s reading ability. He helps Kenny by eliminating Joey’s whining about her winter clothes (though he was deceitful in his means). Byron saves Kenny from the whirlpool in Birmingham, and he also prompts Kenny’s recovery from sadness and despair in the aftermath of the bombing.

This importance of and devotion to family is also evident in that Kenny thinks the Wool Pooh allows a victim to see family members before death. Most notably, Kenny realizes that magic, angels, and genies do exist despite Byron’s opinion to the contrary; they live in the love of one’s family: “They were in the way your father smiled at you even after you messed something up real bad […] Maybe it was magic powers that let you know she was just being Momma” (204-05).

Racial Tension and Conflict

While only indirect suggestions of racial tension appear in the novel before Chapters 14 and 15, this topic is a theme throughout the story. Kenny, as narrator, fittingly focuses on his family and school, never dwelling or seeming to be bothered by turbulent events in other places. The reader, however, infers this is because Kenny does not understand the news stories he sees: “We’d seen the pictures of a bunch of really mad white people with twisted-up faces screaming and giving dirty finger signs to some little Negro kids who were trying to go to school” (122). Dialogue from Dad reminds the reader that the year in which the book is set includes events connected to the civil rights movement. Dad criticizes (still in his sarcastically humorous way) Momma’s high regard for the friendliness of her hometown of Birmingham: “Oh yeah […] they’re a laugh a minute down there. Let’s see, where was that ‘Coloreds Only’ bathroom downtown?” (5).

Later, when Kenny asks Dad why Byron needs to stay in Birmingham, Dad brings up the discrimination and racial conflict that he fears lie in wait for an unsuspecting Byron: “[…] he’s got to realize the world doesn’t have a lot of jokes waiting for him […] we think it’s time Byron got an idea of the kind of place the world can be, and maybe spending some time down South will help open his eyes” (122-23).

In Chapters 14 and 15, the violent and horrific impact of extreme racism in the form of terrorism come shockingly close to home when Joey is almost killed in the church bombing. Now Kenny’s earlier foreshadowing sentiment, “[…] I didn’t really know how these white people could hate some kids so much” (122-23), is again profoundly true for him as he struggles to comprehend baseless hate and the murder of children. Unable to grasp the truth in the church—that people filled with hate caused the rubble and death—Kenny latches on to the notion and image of the Wool Pooh. That way, for him, the unknown, unidentifiable enemy takes on a recognizable face and form; a terrifying monster he saw once before is less scary than one he cannot see or name at all. He carries the images of racial hate and violence home to Flint, where Byron agrees with the unfairness of racism and rhetorically points out the futility of easy answers: “How’s it fair that two grown men can hate Negroes so much that they’d kill some kids just to stop them from going to school?” (203).

In completing his character arc and showing development in the coming-of-age process, Kenny begins to understand intuitively and independently that the best way to fight the symbolic Wool Pooh and other enemies—seen and unseen—is with the real “magic” in your life (the love of one’s family in affection and deeds).