Ivy and Bean

Witches symbolize imagination because witchcraft represents the girls’ inclination toward creativity and their inventive perceptions. The symbolism showcases Ivy and Bean’s commitment to one another and their identities. Reality doesn’t interfere with their imaginative accounts. After Nancy lands in the worm pit, the narrator provides a practical description, “Back and forth she wobbled, trying to keep her balance.” The girls, under the influence of witchcraft and their imaginations, see something else. Bean yells, “She's dancing!" Ivy adds, "The spell worked!" (103). In Bean and Ivy’s reality, Nancy isn’t trying to keep her balance: She’s dancing because Ivy successfully applied the dancing spell.

The symbolism empowers Ivy and Bean. By sticking with their imaginations, the girls acquire a sense of control. In their imaginative version of events, Nancy didn’t fall into the pit because of inattention but due to Ivy’s spell. The girls now believe they possess mastery, and they can bring vengeance to people who deserve it. Witches and imaginations give the girls the means to feel like they can combat the unjust and unfair world. Thus, their next target is the unfriendly Mrs. Trantz, whom Ivy wants to punish with “a storm of grasshoppers" (108).

As Bean observes Ivy’s compartmentalized room, she notices one section contains a diverse group of dolls around a blanket, and, as the narrator explains, “in the middle of the blanket lay a Barbie doll, wrapped up in toilet paper. All the other dolls were watching her” (40). Bean grasps that Ivy turned the Barbie into a mummy, and Ivy says that she plans to bury the Barbie in a pyramid. A mummy is a dead person that remains preserved because their organs have been removed and they’re wrapped in bandages. One interpretation of Barbie is that it represents the death of confining norms for young girls. As Ivy turns Barbie into a mummy, she kills it and the restrictive gender norms that Barbie often symbolizes.

The contemporary journalist and editor Rachel Treisman has noted, “Has a doll long criticized for perpetuating outdated gender norms and unrealistic body image become a feminist icon?” (Treisman, Rachel. “Is Barbie a feminist icon? It's complicated.” NPR, July 27, 2023). This implicitly suggests that Barbie is a harmful influence. Treisman also notes that studies have linked playing with ultra-thin dolls to children’s negative body image and the increased risk of developing eating disorders. Since Ivy intends to bury the Barbie, she extinguishes the potential negative influence that it can have on her.

At the same time, Barbie is viewed as empowering and "a feminist icon.” Treisman adds that Barbie has held over 200 jobs, including astronaut and president “to show girls like [the founder’s] own daughter that they could be anything” (Treisman, 2023). From this angle, Barbie represents a young girl’s mobility and endless possibilities. She can do and be anything— a sentiment Ivy and Bean share. They don’t limit themselves to labels, and they don’t let antagonists like Mrs. Trantz or Nancy circumscribe their adventures. Showcasing her imagination and creativity, Ivy gives Barbie another role—that of a mummy. The different perspectives of Barbie turn the doll into an elusive figure that symbolizes its titular characters’ creativity and possibilities. Neither Barbie nor Ivy and Bean are easy to categorize, and they possess the skills to concoct and execute plans with imagination and resourcefulness.