Canada is a big place. Much of it is wilderness. To get lost in the woods and swamps of western Canada would be a serious matter.
The story begins and ends in Canada. In between, the geographical landscape stretches from Billings to Boston with a notable stopover in Philadelphia. The sense of place is important to the story. The opening section taking place in Canada typically features longer and more descriptive paragraphs while the city scenes is peppered with short lines of dialogue. Canada is of particular importance because it is where the story starts and eventually the story becomes both a literal and figurative journey for the main character. And like all great stories of a hero’s journey, the final destination turns out to be right where the journey started.
Remember that the world is full of youngsters who have some sort of handicap that they must overcome.
The world has changed quite a bit since publication of the book. A common misconception is that some word choices which were perfectly natural back then now have a negative connotation attached to them. One example that is often employed is modern-day analysis where “handicap” becomes disability. Even more offensive to modern day sensibilities is an excerpt like “A person who can’t speak is called dumb. That simply means he can’t say anything.” Literary analyzers have a tendency to gloss over his use of this word, citing that it was not a negative term at the time. This is incorrect. The word 'dumb' to describe those with mutism was commonly looked down upon, and mute was considered to the be correct term starting in the early 1900's at the latest. As this book was published in 1970, we can conclude that E. B. White was at least behind the times, if not straight up offensive in his use of the word.
“A tennis ball will always be just a tennis ball. A cake of soap will always be just a cake of soap—until it gets so small nobody wants it and they throw it away. But an egg will someday be a living creature.”
Like Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web, this is a book written by White partly as a celebration of the natural world. Animals freely with human beings in communicative ways that serve to unify both worlds as worthy of respect and attention. White’s propensity for anthropomorphizing his animal protagonists is such a way seems perfectly normal now, but when he was writing it was still rather experimental. Outside of Looney Tunes, fairy tales and fiction set in fantasy worlds, there weren’t that many talking animals and in most of those cases, they could only communicate with other animals. White’s insistence upon the dignity of the animals while interacting within the human world is revolutionary enough that it warrants more attention than is usually given. Clearly, he had something to say about the world of nature and typical human response to it.
“Come to think of it, I don’t care for pistachio ice cream. I don’t know why I don’t like it, but I don’t. Do not forget, however, that Louis is one of your counselors. Whether you like him or not, he must be treated with respect.”
Mr. Brickle is the director of Camp Kookooskoos and quite possibly the alter ego of the author. He welcomes Louis into the camp as the official bugler and is portrayed throughout as being fair-minded and sympathetic. This particular quote is in response to a young camper confessing that he has never liked birds. Rather than responding by telling him how great birds are and outlining why he should like them, Mr. Brickle comforts by letting him know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with not liking birds and that he can go on not liking birds if he wants. But not liking something is excuse for not respecting it. Once again, the author’s propensity to see connective tissue uniting humans and other living things together shines through without becoming didactic or turning normal conversation into a long, unrealistic lecture.
