Doll Bones

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Questions Game

The questions game that the trio play symbolizes an essential part of childhood, that of asking questions about the world. Asking questions is a way that the friends delve into their imaginative world. It is also a way for them to learn about each other and forge their real identities. For example, the questions Poppy hands to Zach are about William, but all pertain to Zach in some way. Poppy asks, “Does [William] think Lady Jaye likes him?” (19). This is Poppy’s way of hinting at Alice’s feelings for Zach, which Zach is obtusely unaware of.

The games mirror aspects of real life. William the Pirate’s father has always been a mystery, just as Zach’s father is a mystery to him. Through the game, Zach navigates the challenges of having his absentee father rejoin the family. For example, when Poppy asks if William the Pirate suffers from bad dreams, Zach describes how William dreams of “being buried alive” (19). This is exactly how Zach feels when his father takes away his opportunity to play, burying the “childish” version of Zach. Just like William, Zach decides that if he’s to grow up, he’ll do it on his own terms. This means continuing the quest and using his life experiences to do it.

Through the questions they ask each other, the trio exhibit childhood curiosity. They earnestly inquire into the supernatural, a topic that adults view with skepticism. Their questions reveal a deeper level of inquiry. For example, Poppy asks if Zach and Alice would want to be ghosts. This prompts them to consider what it means to belong, the finality of goodbyes, the opportunity for true freedom, and the inability to enact change. Questions are a way for the children to discover who they are and who they wish to be.

Eleanor Kerchner and the Cycle of Abuse

Through Eleanor, the novel suggests that it is important for parental figures to allow children to explore their creativity. Eleanor’s fate reflects what happens to children whose imaginations are stifled instead of encouraged. The Great Queen doll is Eleanor Kerchner, who has been trapped by her aunt and father’s expectations, making her seemingly hostile and bitter.

Like Eleanor, Zach’s father was stifled. He had a rough childhood with his own father, which has turned him into a gruff and prickly man. He takes this trauma out on those around him, especially Zach. In this way, the novel shows how abuse is repeated and becomes cyclical.

Zach provides another example of the cyclical nature of trauma. When his father disposes of his toys, Zach has trouble sleeping at night, loses interest in activities, and becomes aggressive in basketball. In this way, Black shows how stifling imagination limits a child’s autonomy and causes anger and resentment. Zach, in addition to being angry at his father, internalizes his father’s judgments. He becomes defensive with his friends and ashamed of himself “for acting like a little kid, just like his dad had said, and for caring about William the Blade and a bunch of plastic toys as though they were real people” (25). Zach is in danger of becoming like his father, just like his father became like his own father. Zach’s changed perception of himself makes him consider following his father’s footsteps—which, up until this point, he’s viewed with dread.

Eleanor exemplifies the theme of being trapped by family. Her aunt’s restrictions on who she could be and what she could do led to her death. When her aunt chased her off the roof, her father molded her into one of his china dolls. This represents who he wanted her to be forever—static and inanimate.

While Eleanor is dead, Zach feels as if he is experiencing a living death. When his father confiscates his action figures, he stops drawing in the margins of his notebook and daydreaming story ideas, loses his appetite, and skips basketball practice. He doesn’t “much want to do anything” (27), his vigor for life stripped away. When he thinks of the bag of action figures being buried in trash, he relates it to the feeling of “being buried alive” (19). His father has killed Zach’s creativity and imagination, just as Eleanor was driven to death by her uncompromising aunt.

Quests and Make Believe

The trio’s quests exemplify The Formative Nature of Play. The novel highlights the importance of play to child development. The friends’ characters and games, as Zach notes, have importance. They don’t feel like pretend but “true things just waiting to be discovered by him” (19). Quests have transformative power. When the trio complete Eleanor’s quest, Zach proclaims, “Quests are supposed to change us” (172).

By adopting a persona, the children are able to grow and experience self-actualization. When Zach plays William the Blade, he takes on a self-confidence and surety that he doesn’t feel in real life. Similarly, when faced with the quest to return Eleanor to her grave, Zach channels William’s character and finds the courage to steal and sail a boat. Poppy’s questions place Zach in William’s shoes, which allows him to explore William’s fear of “being buried alive” (19). This is how Zach recognizes that he feels the same way when his father tries to force him to grow up by throwing out his toys. Going on Eleanor’s quest with Poppy and Alice allows Zach to confront his feelings and fears and gives him the space and experience to decide how to proceed once he returns home.

The quest helps Zach mature. This is reflected by his physical appearance. When looking at his reflection in the mirror mid-quest, he sees “a slightly sunburnt boy looking back at him, older than he remember[s] himself” (126). While his father has led him to believe that questing hinders growth, Zach has grown in significant ways. The quest prompts a shift in his perspective: While he does have to grow up eventually, play doesn’t have to stop completely, only evolve.

Poppy also grows through the quest. She doesn’t have strict parents, nor do her siblings keep close watch over her. She’s grown up with no rules and is used to forging her own path. Poppy struggles to accept things that are outside of her control—such as Zach and Alice’s relationship and their desire to add original ideas to the make-believe stories. Eleanor’s quest forces Poppy to accept advice from her friends and rely on them more than she ever has before.

Of all the friends, Alice has the most restrictive home life. Her overprotective grandmother tells her exactly what she should be and critiques everything that doesn’t confine to her standards. The character of Lady Jaye gives Alice the opportunity “to play somebody new” (35). The quests are Alice’s safe space for trying on different people and provide an opportunity for her to explore who she wants to be. Through play, Zach and Poppy discover that Alice “[is] good at making crazy ideas actually work” (70). This makes them trust Alice when it comes to planning their next moves. Through quests, Alice develops problem-solving abilities that impact her approach to real-life complications.