44 pages • 1 hour read
Judy BlumeIt's Not the End of the World
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1972A 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
Furniture
Furniture is a motif that runs through the novel, representing the fundamental incompatibility between Bill and Ellie. Karen describes how Ellie loves antique furniture and her true passion involves refurbishing old antiques. Their home is decorated with antiques suiting her taste. Karen notices how Bill’s furniture store sells modern furniture, contrasting with the aesthetic of their home. Karen at one point even asks her mother if this disagreement over furniture contributed to the divorce. Ellie assures her that this is not the case, but Karen has noticed that there are some fundamental ways in which their parents differ.
When Karen sees Bill’s new apartment, her suspicions are confirmed. Bill’s apartment features the kind of modern furniture he sells at the store. There is a sense that now that Bill has separated from Ellie, he can be more authentic to himself and design his life in a way that suits him. That same sense emerges when Karen sees Ellie working on a new piece of furniture for Amy’s toys. Karen sees that without Bill around, Ellie is freer to explore what makes her happy rather than fitting into the social role he expected of her.
Furniture represents the domestic space of the novel and expresses the true reason that Ellie and Bill need to divorce: They just don’t get along. Karen is able to understand that a little more clearly through the furniture.
The Viking Diorama
Karen’s Viking diorama is a symbol of Karen’s personal agency and her desire for control. The diorama itself represents this; it is a miniature scene in which the tiny people are entirely within Karen’s control. She learns about Vikings in school and their violent and conflict-ridden history. Just as she hopes to exert control over the conflict at home, she exerts a kind of control over the Vikings by placing them in her diorama.
Karen formulates a plan to get her parents in the same room by inviting Bill in to look at her Viking diorama. Karen hopes to exert social control over the situation by manufacturing a meeting between her parents in the hopes that they will reconnect. She first must test her agency against her overbearing teacher who initially refuses to let her take the diorama home. Karen pushes back, insisting that she needs it until the teacher relents and allows her to take it.
When the meeting between Ellie and Bill devolves into conflict as it always does, Karen finally sees that her parents will never be able to get along. In the morning after the climactic fight, Karen smashes up her Viking diorama. This moment symbolizes Karen’s acceptance that she cannot control her parents and she must let go of her wish to keep them together. Though the act initially seems self-destructive and painful, it ultimately allows Karen to release herself from the burden of trying to control her situation and allows her to move forward in her life.
The Boys and Girls Book About Divorce
The Boys and Girls Book About Divorce is a symbol of self-reliance which eventually helps Karen move forward with the reality of her parents’ divorce.
Karen first experiences this book when she meets Val Lewis, another girl whose parents have divorced. Val positions herself as a kind of expert, partly from her own experience and party because she has purchased a book designed to help kids make sense of divorce. She researched the book herself, used her own money to buy it, and now uses it to help give Karen advice about what to expect. Karen holds on to certain hopes that she can help her parents avert their divorce. Val references the book when she counsels Karen to give up on that hope. The book also helps Karen recognize that she and Val are not the only kids going through divorce and there is much to be learned from engaging with the broader world of people who have experienced divorce.
At the end of the novel, once Karen has accepted that her parents are going to divorce, she buys the book for herself. This choice represents a step toward self-reliance as Karen decides to do her own research about how to handle divorce. It also signifies the traditional coming-of-age moment when a kid separates a little bit from their parents and learns to rely on themselves. She even recommends the book to Garfa who agrees to read it to help him process his own feelings about the divorce.
Related Titles
By Judy Blume
