Character Clues

Character Analysis

Names

If you've ever hung around Roman mythology (or James Joyce for that matter), you might have heard the name Ulysses before. That's because Ulysses (a.k.a. Odysseus) is the name of the guy who goes on a super long (ten years, to be precise) journey home after the Trojan War in Homer's Odyssey. Flora also takes her name from mythology—the goddess of plants and flowers is named is named… drum roll, please… Flora.

So what's with all the mythology references? If you're thinking it has a little something to do with who these characters are, then go ahead and give yourself a nice little pat on the back, because you're totally right.

In the Odyssey, Ulysses is super crafty and has a sharp wit, but he usually beats around the bush to find a solution, just like our squirrel friend, who often has to be convinced to take action and uses less conventional methods (like jumping in someone's hair) than your average superhero. Plus, they both go on pretty epic journeys in their own right. And Flora, like her namesake, uses flowers and stuff found in nature to help others, and just like the goddess, Flora in our book is searching for ways to cure diseases or prevent disaster.

Lastly, being named after mythological heroes makes Flora and Ulysses sound stronger and scarier, it elevates their adventures to mythic proportions even though they're ultimately pretty small.

Are there other names that give you insights into the characters? What about William Spiver, for instance?

Actions

Flora's mom might say, "'I want him to feel welcome. I want him to know that he literally has a chair at our table'" (51.4), but when she kidnaps Ulysses and takes him out into the woods and "[…] put[s] the flashlight on the ground […] picked up a shovel, the shovel" (60.7), we know she was lying. It's like your mom always says in this book—actions really do speak louder than words.

You see, people don't always tell the truth when it comes down to it, so we have to go on their actions instead of words. It makes sense when you think about it: The story this book tells is partially drawn, so it's logical, then, that what people show can be very telling in this book.