Socks

The kitten sale in Chapter 1 is the catalyst for Socks’s adventure and character growth. Debbie represents how events are often outside of Socks’s control. Since her parents won’t let her keep the kittens, Socks must find a new home, even though he likes living with Debbie because she gives him attention. Socks also has no say in which family adopts him, as seen by how Debbie and George influence the outcome of the kitten sale. By putting Socks in the mailbox, George keeps the family with the loud children from adopting Socks, but the children are fine with letting the Brickers adopt the kitten because the couple is quieter and seems more responsible. Marilyn’s final line in Chapter 1 is both foreshadowing and irony. While satisfaction is eventually guaranteed for Socks, he first must go through several unpleasant situations that don’t leave him satisfied at all. This arc introduces the theme of Overcoming Struggles in Changing Relationships to Form Lasting Bonds, which Cleary will continue to develop as the novel progresses.

Chapter 2 introduces the third major theme, The Search for Belonging Amid Shifting Familial Dynamics. Up until the middle of this chapter, Socks has basked in being the favored one among his humans (both as Debbie’s favorite and as the Brickers’ only pet). When Marilyn goes to the hospital to give birth, Socks feels neglected for the first time, and Socks’s relationship with food shows how he doesn’t understand this feeling. While Marilyn is in the hospital, Socks loses interest in food, but later, after the baby comes home, Socks overeats. His feelings of neglect trigger both responses, and neither is a healthy response. The new stress Charles William brings to the house doesn’t help Socks’s emotions. As seen in Chapter 2, the baby’s fussing increases the Brickers’ stress, and Socks’s instincts trigger his anxiety, meaning that Socks initially equates Charles William to distress. This association sets up Socks’s struggle to find where he belongs in the new dynamics of his home.

Much of the story is told from Socks’s perspective, which offers a glimpse at how Socks responds to situations differently than humans. From the beginning, Socks finds humans perplexing, as seen by how he keeps trying to escape the box at the kitten sale while Debbie pushes him back inside. Socks’s perspective on the world also brings humor to how people often observe cat behavior. When Socks is trapped in the mailbox, he doesn’t understand what’s happening but figures he may as well take advantage of the quiet darkness to take a nap. With the Brickers in Chapter 2, Socks doesn’t understand that Marilyn is pregnant, which makes the arrival of Charles William a surprise. All Socks knows is that Marilyn’s lap is shrinking, which he understands only as an inconvenience for him.

Despite these differences in how Socks views the world, Cleary also shows that he is similar to humans by his emotional responses. When Socks falls off Marilyn’s lap in Chapter 2, Socks is embarrassed, even more so when the Brickers laugh. As sometimes happens with humans, this embarrassment makes Socks want to lash out. Without the ability to understand what’s happening with Marilyn, Socks takes her shrinking lap as an affront and slashes the furniture—an inappropriate response. When the Brickers then leave Socks alone for several days, Socks grows despondent, which is another human-like emotional reaction. Socks’s lack of interest in his food is an unhealthy coping mechanism, as is overeating later. These incidents show that, while Socks doesn’t always understand what’s happening and why, he is still a complex creature who doesn’t always adapt well to new situations. His struggle to initially adjust establishes the theme of Adapting to New Situations Through Acceptance, Not Resistance, which plays a central role in Socks’s character arc throughout the novel.