Bud, Not Buddy

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1999

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-19

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Vocabulary

Essay Topics

Quiz

Background

Literary Context: The “Orphan Narrative”

Bud, Not Buddy fits within the literary subgenre of the “orphan narrative,” in which a main character must contend with conflict and seek the objective of his or her quest without a mother or father. The orphan might be influenced by the memories of parents or by parent-like figures, as is the case with Bud’s memories of his mother’s advice and the mentorship of Lefty Lewis. It is usually evident, however, that the orphaned protagonist proceeds and succeeds largely by his or her own gumption, wit, cleverness, resourcefulness, and independence. For example, ultimately, it is Bud’s insistence that Mr. Calloway look at his mother’s rocks that leads to the revelation of Bud’s true identity.

In contrast to his or her outward independence, the orphan intuitively seeks a home, family, or group within which he or she can feel a sense of belonging and love. In this text, Bud feels immediately content among the band members in Grand Calloway Station despite his own grandfather’s initial inability to accept him. The orphan figure appears throughout literature: Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Pip in Great Expectations, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, and Tom Sawyer are all classic orphan narratives. Some of the most popular characters in modern children’s literature are orphans as well, such as the Baudelaire siblings in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Harry Potter.

Authorial Context: Christopher Paul Curtis

Christopher Paul Curtis spent years after high school working in a General Motors autobody plant in Flint, Michigan. He began writing to contend with the grueling shift work he and another employee shared, hanging heavy doors on Buicks. His first book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, was published in 1995; Bud, Not Buddy was his second novel, first published in 1999. Other middle grade stories with a historical setting followed, including Elijah of Buxton (2007) and The Mighty Miss Malone (2013). The latter features protagonist Deza Malone, whom readers first meet in Bud, Not Buddy’s Hooverville scenes.

Curtis relates that family members sometimes inspire his characters, and this is true in Bud Not Buddy: Curtis’s grandfathers were Earl “Lefty” Lewis who worked as a “redcap” porter in Grand Rapids during the Great Depression, and Herman E. Curtis, Sr., a jazz musician and band leader of the 1930’s. In fact, Mr. Curtis’s band was named “Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression,” one of several names the character Mr. Calloway gives to his band in the novel.

In an interview with CollaborativeClassroom.org, the interviewer notes that Curtis was the first African American man to win the Newbery Medal (in 2000) and asks, “What was it like for you in 1995, as an African American man writing realistic stories about African American families in the very white realm of children’s book publishing?” In his reply, Curtis expresses gratitude that that at the time, that “daunting task” did not occur to him, as it might have swayed him from his publication goals. In the same interview, he mentions his desire to have some “lingering questions” that inspire research into a historical time period. He discusses being inspired by scenes of Hoovervilles in the film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, which inspired him to explore this setting further in his novel.

https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/interview-with-christopher-paul-curtis/

Historical and Cultural Context: 1930's America

The events and plotline of Bud, Not Buddy and many of Bud’s decisions are entwined with and supported by the novel’s 1936 setting. For example, Bud is able to eat for free at the mission, a realistic reminder to readers that charities and soup kitchens became commonly available to the hungry, homeless, and impoverished during the Depression. Bud’s meals there allow him to subsist several days on his own. Bud’s and Bugs’s night in Flint’s Hooverville and their intention to jump on the train to Chicago early the next morning show readers another realistic snapshot of history. Many families’ hopes depended on finding migrant work in places only accessible to them by rail; a Hooverville usually grew up at the edge of a town, frequently near a rail line. Hoovervilles embody the economic struggle many faced throughout the Great Depression and make it apparent where many placed the blame for the country’s economic woes, as Bud hears from a Hooverville resident: “That’s right, Mr. Hoover worked so hard at making sure every city has got one that it seems like it would be criminal to call them anything else” (66).

Intertwined with the history of the 1930s is the emphasis on music as an important cultural element of that decade. People nationwide sought release from their troubles and worries and often looked to music to do so. Curtis’s choice of musician as Bud’s supposed father’s job and Bud’s discovery of an extended “family” of band members grounds the plot in historical and cultural relevance. Live jazz musicians traveled and performed at many types of venues in this period, which is reflected in the array of names Mr. Calloway uses for his band, chosen to suit his audience’s tastes. Bud travels several times with the band in his first week living at Grand Calloway Station, giving the reader a taste of the pace and characteristics of a musician’s life on the road in the 1930’s; this kind of historically realistic travel provides the opportunity for Mr. Calloway to collect his rocks, which sets in motion the discovery of Bud’s familial connection to him. Finally, the personalities and lifestyles of the character band members suggest how musicians may have felt living on their talent during hard times; as Steady Eddie tells Bud, “And be careful, that’s my bread and butter in there. […] That’s my horn, my ax, my saxophone, the thing I make all my money with, so don’t get butterfingers and drop it” (154).