Eggs

“He pretended he was doing this for his mother. He pretended she was not lying in a grave in a faraway state, but that she had awakened him the next morning, while it was still dark, just as she had promised, and they had gone out to the lake to see the sun come up, just as she had promised.”

When David is forced to participate in an Easter egg hunt, he imagines that his mother is alive, as this willful fantasy helps him cope with his terrible mood. This quote introduces David’s primary conflict: his grief over his mother’s sudden death. The scene also explains his reluctance to watch the sunrise without her. The sunrise goes on to become a motif for the theme of Using Superstition to Cope with Grief.

“‘My name is David. I’m nine. My mother died too. She hit her head. Her name was Carolyn Sue Limpert. We used to live in Minnesota. That’s a state. I have a memento in my pocket, but nobody’s allowed to see it.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I guess it’s okay to show it to you.’ He took out the memento and held it before the closed, glittery eyes. They did not move. He returned the memento to his pocket.”

When David finds Primrose pretending to be dead in the forest and mistakenly believes her to be a corpse, he spills his life story to her. The short, simple sentences emphasize his youth and inexperience, and it is clear that, despite his straightforward approach to the world, he is burdened by a deep and abiding sadness, for his belief that the girl before him is dead does not trouble him, in and of itself. By this point in his young life, he has already been forced to confront the grim reality of sudden death. The scene also provides crucial context about David’s circumstances and introduces the key symbol of his mysterious memento.