It's Not the End of the World

“Then she picked up that beautiful cake, held it high over her head, and dropped it. It smashed at my father’s feet.”

This moment portrays the kind of conflict that plagues Karen’s home life. Bill has just criticized Ellie’s cake and invalidated her feelings. Ellie responds petulantly by smashing the cake, choosing a more physical manifestation of her anger and hatred. What should have been a scene of domestic comfort, represented by the “beautiful cake,” devolves into violence.

“I am also supposed to be mature, well-adjusted and eager to learn. I saw this written on my permanent record card one day in the fall. Sometimes I don’t feel mature, well-adjusted and eager to learn.”

Karen reflects on her report card and the way her teacher previously saw her. This line shows her introspective nature and the way she feels that she is changing based on the conflict at home. Her evolving feelings about her sense of self highlight the beginning of her coming-of-age narrative.

“Nothing in our house comes from the store though. That’s because my mother loves old stuff.”

This line shows how furniture symbolizes the fundamental incompatibility between Ellie and Bill. Karen notices that there is a misalignment between Bill’s passion for modern furniture and the aesthetic of their home, which makes her begin to wonder if Ellie and Bill truly don’t get along.

“But doesn’t he want to see us? Doesn’t he care? How can he move out of his own house?”

Karen begins to ask these difficult questions after Bill moves out of the house. These questions show the reality of The Impact of Divorce on Children as Bill’s desire to avoid Ellie spills over into a feeling that he is rejecting his children. At this point in the text, Karen has more questions than answers; when she becomes able to answer her own questions, Blume signals her coming-of-age.

“I miss Daddy already. I hate them both! I wish I was dead.”

Karen admits to a feeling of hatred and despair once Bill has moved out. Her emotions are powerful and tumultuous and she internalizes these feelings into a desire to be dead. Blume conveys the emphatic nature of these emotions through short, monosyllabic sentences.

“Your mother and I just don’t get along. We can’t go on living together. It’s making a mess of our lives.”

Bill expresses to the kids why he and Ellie are divorcing. He does not give very much detail and sticks to an agreed-upon line to avoid villainizing Ellie or asking the kids to choose sides. The simplicity of his explanation reflects the characteristically accessible voice in the text.

“Well there it was. Out in the open. But not in the way I’d planned it. I was the one who was going to tell Debbie. And she was the one who was going to make me feel better.”

In this moment, Karen loses yet another avenue of control. She had wanted to tell Debbie about the divorce but discovers that Debbie already knows. With so little ability to control the situation at home, Karen reacts with anger, looking for another way to reestablish control by lashing out at Debbie. The italicized “I” and “she” reflect Karen’s sense of assurance about the roles she and Debbie were supposed to play.

“Aunt Ruth looked at me. Does she know something? Why doesn’t she just stay home and mind her own business! I hope my mother never goes out with Mr. Henry Farnum or any other man!”

This line highlights the way Aunt Ruth functions in the family. She has significant sway over Ellie’s decisions and gives her advice to move forward in her own romantic life. Karen resists Aunt Ruth’s influence and does not feel ready to accept that her family is truly breaking apart. Blume ends the question that begins with the word “[w]hy with an exclamation mark instead of a full stop, conveying that Karen’s uncertainty sparks anger instead of curiosity.

“I wanted to say, ‘Please talk to me—I need somebody so bad.’ I felt tears come to my eyes. I think Jeff noticed.”

This moment marks a shift in Karen’s relationship with Jeff. While he had been standoffish before, he recognizes that Karen really needs him emotionally in this moment and comes through for her. Their interaction conveys a method of Rebuilding Life After Trauma.

“Daddy and I just don’t enjoy being together. We don’t love each other anymore.”

This line mimics the earlier line from Bill through which he explains to the kids why he and Ellie are getting divorced. Here, Ellie repeats essentially the same line, giving the kids little tangible information. Karen continues to doubt her parents and see them as withholding, whereas the narrative implicitly suggests that this is the simple truth.

“At least he’s not sorry he had us!”

Jeff says this line to Ellie after she tries to express her hopes and dreams that were thwarted as a result of having children young. Jeff behaves callously, holding little sympathy and grace for his mother, while Ellie behaves selfishly, neglecting to think through the way this divorce is affecting her children over herself. Jeff’s expectations that Ellie maintain pure selflessness reflect contemporary patriarchal dynamics, as Ellie is expected to be a devoted mother.

“I told you before…he doesn’t care anything about me.”

Val speaks this line to Karen after Karen keeps asking her about her dad. Val has accepted a harsh reality about her family life and has moved forward with the knowledge that her dad will not be a big part of her life. Karen has yet to accept the reality of her own family life and has trouble accepting Val’s. This passage encapsulates Val’s role as a representation of a harsh transition to adulthood.

“Daddy can afford to.”

This line is a rare moment in which Ellie admits the truth about the financial situation she finds herself in compared to Bill. Karen had already heard from many outside sources that money will be an issue, but nobody at home will admit it to her. Here, Ellie finally admits that Bill has the money and it will impact the way she lives her life. She conveys it in simple terms, reflecting the tone of the text which clarifies complex situations for a young readership.

“‘I suppose you have a better idea?’ Daddy asked.

‘No,’ Mom said. ‘I haven’t any ideas at all.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Daddy said.”

This line shows that, even in the face of a crisis like Jeff’s disappearance, Bill and Ellie will fall right back into their old patterns of conflict. Ellie expresses an inability to make a decision and Bill belittles her for it. This juxtaposes the reality of their relationship with the fantasy in Karen’s head, as she imagines that a crisis will bring her parents together.

“Now that the police business is out of the way, they can have a chance to be alone, I thought. They’ll see that they belong together. That we’re a family. Any minute now Daddy will tell her he’s sorry he left.”

This line is one of the last times that Karen expresses her hope that her parents will get back together. Even though she has seen them fight time and time again, she still clings to this hope that the need to be a family will help them put their conflict aside. Her fantasy clashes with reality until the end of her coming-of-age arc.

“‘I’m warning you, Ellie…’

‘Lay a hand on me and I’ll have you locked up,’ Mom screamed.

Was he going to hit her?

‘I wouldn’t waste my time,’ Daddy shouted.”

This exchange shows a serious escalation in the conflict between Ellie and Bill. Ellie accuses Bill of threatening to hit her and Karen worries that she will see him enact physical violence. Bill responds with a cruel, invalidating comment. Blume uses the verbs “screamed” and “shouted” as opposed to the calmer descriptions of talking and asking in their previous arguments, thus bringing the tensions of the text to a climax.

“You never looked at me as a person. I have feelings…I have ideas…did you ever stop to think about that?”

Ellie finally admits in front of the kids what she really hates about Bill, clarifying the dynamics that have been implicit. From her point of view, Bill does not respect her as a person. She feels resentful that he has ignored her and suppressed her feelings and ideas. Her feelings represent those of oppressed women under patriarchy in microcosm.

“You don’t know what you want. You never did. And you never will! Because you never grew up! You’re still Ruth’s baby.”

Bill counters Ellie’s statement by finally revealing what he hates about her. He sees her as a child who can’t make decisions or move forward without being babied by Aunt Ruth. This perpetuates the sense that he views her, through a patriarchal lens, as a helpless woman.

“And I screamed and I screamed and I screamed, without stopping to take a breath. I saw Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dan and Ay and my mother and my father, just standing there like idiots, watching me scream but still I didn’t stop. I kept on screaming…until Daddy slapped me across the face. And then I cried.”

This line comes from the climax of the novel, when Karen finally lets out all her feelings in front of her parents. It is a painful and cathartic moment for her. The slap signifies the moment that Karen accepts that her parents will break up and she cannot fully depend on them.

“Now I know the truth. My parents are not going to get back together.”

After the climactic fight, Karen has accepted the reality of the divorce. She describes it as the “truth,” showing that she had to see it for herself as she could not rely on what her parents told her to give her a full picture of their relationship or their plans. This signifies her coming of age.

“I think you should know that it was just because we were so worried about Jeff.”

Just like before, Ellie and Bill agree on a line to feed the children about why Bill slapped Karen. Only now, Karen has learned not to take her parents’ word at face value. Karen neither accepts this as true nor as an apology.

“Yesterday I ordered The Boys and Girls Book About Divorce. Did you ever hear of it? It’s a very famous book and I need it a lot. I need it because Daddy and Mom are definitely going to get divorced! I’ve tried to get them back together. Honest! But nothing works.”

Karen externalizes her acceptance by telling Garfa about it and admitting that she tried to get them back together. She tells him about the book she ordered, showing that she is going to rely on herself and her own research to help process her feelings about the divorce.

“Don’t ever run away, Karen. It stinks.”

This moment signifies a quiet connection between Karen and Jeff. Even though Jeff refuses to answer questions about running away, he lets Karen in on the emotional truth of his experience, admitting that running away was no fun. He gives her a little bit of brotherly advice, making her feel a little bit more cared for than she had throughout the novel.