57 pages • 1 hour read
Stanley Gordon WestUntil They Bring The Streetcars Back
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1991A 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
Nut Goodie
The Nut Goodie reinforces the St. Paul setting. The Pearson’s Candy Company makes Nut Goodies, and they’re located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Nut Goodies combine chocolate, maple, and peanuts, and in Until They Bring the Streetcars Back, Cal first eats a Nut Goodie after football practice. When the Nut Goodie returns in the novel, Cal gives it to Gretchen to counter the inevitable abuse that will happen over the holiday break. Cal describes her reaction, “She lit up like I’d given her a gold watch or something” (115). Moving forward, Nut Goodies symbolize hope. Cal gives them to Gretchen as a way to show his concern. He cares about her and plans to help her, and the Nut Goodies remind Gretchen there’s goodness and compassion in life.
As the abuse is constant, Cal gives Gretchen myriad Nut Goodies, joking, “I figured the Pearson Candy Company would have to build another plant” (190). When Cal is in the workhouse, he manages to get Gretchen a Nut Goodie via Sandy, and the candy bar deters her from death by suicide. Gretchen tells Cal, “I saved the Nut Goodie in my locker, and every day it reminded me and gave me hope” (222). The Nut Goodie helps Gretchen hold on to the possibility of freedom despite her circumstances.
Streetcars
Horace identifies with streetcars. Lurine jokes that if the Gants believed in reincarnation, Horace would return as a streetcar. Horace views streetcars as a part of his identity, and his compassion for streetcars lifts them into symbols of principles. Horace explains to Cal:
[O]ur streetcars are custom-built right here in St. Paul and finished as nice as your living room [….] [T]hey run smooth and safe [….] [T]here are no better streetcars in the world than the big yellow cars of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company (62-63).
For Horace, the streetcars have integrity. They’re made in St. Paul, and this fact reinforces his intimate bond with the machines. Horace contrasts the upstanding streetcars with the buses, which are “belching their filthy soot and diesel fumes all over the city” (100). The streetcars represent refined beauty, and the buses symbolize vulgarity. The struggle between streetcars and buses becomes a clash of principles. When Cal repeats the book’s title near the end of the last chapter, he ties himself to his father’s principles. He tells a former streetcar driver that he’ll walk “until they bring the streetcars back” (273). The statement isn’t a sign of stubbornness; it represents Cal’s value system, which he inherits from Horace. Instead of yielding to the convenient but crass buses, Cal stays true to his moral compass and refuses to change against his will, maintaining his agency.
Animals and Nature
The motif of animals and nature supports the theme of The Importance of Resilience. Cal learns about determination through animals and nature. In jail, Cal remembers riding the bull moose while Emil looked on. Cal was scared and wanted to get off, but Emil told him, “You climbed on, now you gotta ride it out” (197). Cal applies the lesson to his present predicament. He “rides it out” and survives jail and the workhouse. He doesn’t let his punishment interfere with his plan to help Gretchen. He stuck with the bull moose, and he summons the resilience to frame Otto and separate him from Gretchen.
The motif of animals and nature also supports the theme of Showing Compassion for Others. Cal shows compassion for the rabbit by saving it from the boys, and he shows compassion for the dog by trying to free it. Peggy, too, has compassion for animals, feeding the rabbit and the dog. The compassion the siblings show for the animals mirrors Cal’s compassion for Gretchen. When Peggy asks Cal why he stole the liquor, Cal answers, “It was kind of like taking carrots for the cottontail” (211). The dog has to deal with its abusive owner, the rabbit has to endure the violent boys, and the owl in Emil’s wood has to face the deadly consequences of trying to eat a porcupine. The animals can’t listen to Cedric Adams and exist in a bubble but must avidly find ways to escape threats or survive dangerous encounters. This mirrors Gretchen’s relationship with her father. She is trapped in a predator-prey dynamic and her resilience helps her find a way to escape through Cal.
