Socks

In addition to relationships, Socks also explores how the characters adapt when presented with situations they’ve never faced before. Through the Brickers adjusting to parenthood and Socks’s character arc, the novel shows the necessity of adapting to move forward. From the moment Bill and Marilyn bring Charles William home, their lives are upended in ways they never considered before. As seen when they first feed Charles William a bottle, the couple believes feeding the baby will be simple, only to realize it’s not. The Brickers grow distressed until Charles William finally burps, and this situation sets up a pattern that persists throughout the novel. Whenever the Brickers encounter a new parenting circumstance, they are initially overcome with uncertainty as they flounder through deciding what to do. This comes to a head in Chapter 5 when Socks bites Marilyn. By this point, the Brickers have trained themselves to make decisions that both benefit Charles William and minimize their emotional distress. Though they’ve never had a problem with Socks before, they move the cat out of the house because it seems like the best way to keep Charles William safe. When Socks is later wounded, the Brickers realize they acted in haste. Their concern for Charles William, coupled with their new-parent exhaustion, means they didn’t adapt well to caring for both a cat and a baby. When they invite Socks back into the house and make it clear he is just as much a part of the family, Socks and Charles William become fast friends, which shows how adapting reduces stress and facilitates healthy relationships.

While Bill and Marilyn symbolize the importance of thoughtful adaptation, Socks exemplifies the emotional factors present in learning to adapt. Charles William’s arrival in the house immediately changes Socks’s life as the Brickers give the baby the attention Socks used to receive. Initially, Socks reacts to this by becoming despondent, eating more, and being less active. This prompts the Brickers to pay attention to him for reasons he doesn’t like—namely, giving him less food. Socks adapts to this change by acting out, such as in Chapter 4 when he steals Charles William’s Brown Bear. Rather than the reaction Socks wants—getting his food back—Marilyn calls him a bad cat, to which Socks thinks, “Couldn’t she see he was not bad? He was hungry” (65). Since Marilyn does not see this, Socks continues to adapt as best he can by begging at the neighbors’ houses. As with Bill and Marilyn’s parenting choices, Socks’s failure to adapt comes to a head in Chapter 5 when he is so hungry and starved for attention that he bites Marilyn in a desperate attempt to make things how they used to be. Socks’s failure to do so represents how he cannot go back—only forward. This realization makes him seek help from the Brickers when he is injured, figuring they cared for him once and might again. This works because Socks is too hurt to force change. Instead, he realizes he needs help, and his success in getting it makes him understand that adapting means accepting new situations, not trying to change them.