(138-151) When Hollis first sees the gift from Josie she says, “I could see it was me. But not really me.” What did she mean by that?
A turning point for Hollis comes in Chapter 15. She finds some answers for things she has been thinking and worrying about in an unlikely place – that was always right in front of her. What does she see?
Her revelation makes her rethink Josie’s gift of candy. Where does Hollis think that the Candies came from?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Santa?
Posted by Mr. Z at 6:39 AM
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3 Comments:
I think that it was the eyes that made Hollis say that. In her own words, “I looked closer, studying those eyes that were so sad it hurt to look at them.” Truthfully, I would find it hard to see a wooden sculpture with eyes that looked so sad that it hurt. As I can remember, the eyes are the window to the soul. I think that Hollis feels happy, but her sculpture was sad.
Hollis saw all sorts of things she didn’t notice before in her drawings, like the Old Mans arm on Steven’s shoulder in the “Welcome to the Family” picture. She then remembered what Izzy said, “Sometimes we learn things from our own drawings; things are there we thought we didn’t know”. This is the view here.
First off, you wouldn’t just decide “why not go to some random house to give them to someone?” You would probably know if someone liked the candies. Steven knows that Hollis likes the candies. Second, “peace, Hollis” in holly was a good sign. Steven’s nickname for Hollis was holly, so I don’t think that it was a coincidence.
I think Josie's sculpture represented Hollis as a sad but welcoming and lovable person. She does not see herself that way. A "mountain of trouble".
Maybe Josie's sculpture was the first step in Holis coming to see herself as others that care about her see her. Her eyes were openned more when she looked at her own pictures and saw subtle things that she had captured that she had not noticed at the time, calling to mind Beatrice's (not Izzy's) quote “Sometimes we learn things from our own drawings; things are there we thought we didn’t know”.
I do not follow the logic of your last paragraph but I think you are correct that Hollis realized someone has been visiting the house - maybe Josie even saw them. Clues (Holly, Candies) point to Steven.
What if it is Steven? Will seeing him be better than seeing the Regan's, or more frightening? How can Hollis allow everything to possibly be all right if she can't see the way to forgive herself?
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