Notes on Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt


This is truly one of the best books I've ever read! Definitly going into my list of "Must Read" Children's Books. I had watched the movie starring Alexis Bledel as Winnie Foster and William Hurt as Mr Tuck and even back then it aroused so much feeling and an incentive to ponder. I never forgot the ending and the themes the movie brought out. Now that I've read the book and actually got in tune with Babbitt's writing, I am more compelled to write.

Firstly, I found the themes addressed in the story to be very profound.

*Death: Death is a part of life. Death is a part of the circle, one that completes our existance in this world. Winnie sees how the Tucks are unhappy because they can't die. It seems ironic because most people just want to escape death and think that that would make them happy. This story tells us what might happen if people lived forever.

*Economics of the possibitly of a Fountain of Death: The story brings out what would happen if there was a central place that governed life and death. There would be so much corruption, regarding who owns it and the means to sell it. The man in the Yellow suit talked about having a freak death to show the advantages of living. Imagine how grotesque that would be. Also, this makes us think about the difference between God's controlling life and death as opposed to some other taking control.

*Freedom and Entrapment: What is freedom? Is it life or death? To Winnie Foster, her life at home seemed dead and lifeless and she wished to escape it. However, she learns that being vegabonds on the run forever was like being dead (without dying). She learns that everything is not as it seems, that freedom can disguise entrapment.

*Loss of Innocence: Winnie loses her childish innocence when she learns to question. She questions the staleness of her life at home and tries to break free. When she meets the Tucks, she is contstantly asking questions. She also grows as an adolescent developing feelings for Jesse. The more she finds out about the inevitability of death, she loses the innocece of a child. She also learns that death could be a blessing rather than a punishment.

*A Girl's growing up: This is Winnie's Story. This is her adventure. Notice the absence of Winnie's parents. Also, it is a girls adventure as opposed to a boy's (in this way it resembles Anne of Green Gables, The Little Princess and Secret Garden). Even in the first chapter of the book, we learn that Winnie is on a quest for something and the whole book is about her quest (compare with the Aruthurian quest). She not only discovers the secret of the spring, but also grows as a young woman. She also learns to control her base intincts: she does not drink from the spring though she was aware of its existance. This is also about Winnie taking control of the things around her. She decides to help Mae Tuck and she also rescures the toad from being killed. Winnie learns to shed the decorum she was taught and instead acts on impulse so that she can give way to her natural feelings of love and want (note the appearance of "natural"in the story).

*Rich characterization: Intensive study of the Winnie, Mr Tuck, Jesse, Miles, Mae, and the Man in the Yellow Suit could be made.

*Intertwining of reality and fantasy and the art of story-telling: The meaning of stories being passed down to generations and also having faith in a new story is crucial. Though Winnie was the only one who knew of the spring, she believed in the Tucks enough to help them and keep the secret. Babbitt does the opposite in giving away the secret to the readers but HER secret is about learning to keep secrets.