Granny Torrelli Makes Soup

Touch plays an important role in mending relationships. In “Snakes…” this becomes evident as Rosie begins to feel her angry feelings dissipate as she places her hands over Bailey’s. The effect of this gentle touch works in tandem with the motif of Blindness to indicate friendship and companionship, or the practice of empathy, in contrast to failing to understand the feelings of others. Rosie’s negative emotions in this moment do not just vanish; instead, she wishes the snakes would go over to Janine’s house. However, the touch does help to redirect her anger away from Bailey as she is reminded of how much she cares for her friend.

While Bailey does recognize Rosie’s feelings enough to ask if she is jealous of Janine, he doesn’t fully understand how big Rosie’s feelings are. When Rosie asks Bailey if he could ever like Janine better than he likes her, he does not take the time to give a thoughtful or reassuring answer. Much as Rosie did in the first part of the novel, Bailey needs to listen to Granny Torrelli tell the two about Marco. Once Marco enters Granny Torrelli’s storytelling, Bailey starts to grasp the depth of Rosie’s feelings, as he begins to imagine how he would feel in her place.

The Moving Van that pulls into the neighborhood at this point is a symbol that punctuates Bailey’s realization. A change has arrived to the relationship between Rosie and Bailey. Up until recently, the two have been the most important friends in each other’s lives. Now Janine is here, already causing a disturbance to Rosie. As it dawns on Bailey how Rosie is feeling, the moving van comes and introduces more complications into their lives. However, while Janine separates the two a bit because Rosie is jealous and because Bailey is not able to fully understand or respond to her jealousy, the moving van actually brings the two closer together. This is because with the addition of even more people into their neighborhood and into their social circles, they both now understand the ramifications of letting other people get in between them. Because they both understand the consequences of their actions, they move toward each other rather than away from each other. In this sense, the moving van represents change, but it is a change that ultimately brings them closer together.

Rosie describes her emotional state in numerous different ways throughout the novel. At times she describes herself as having both a tiger and a fox inside of her. When she has the tiger inside of her, she is angry, and Granny Torrelli can see this. When the moving van pulls in, however, the tiger is gone, and she feels a fox instead. This change denotes a change in both her emotions and in her approach. A fox is sly and tricky. In the same way, she is sly when she describes the boys across the street. She knows Bailey will be jealous of them, and she is fine with this and actually hopes he is jealous. He cannot see the people moving in, and she does not lie to him. She does feel pleasure, however, in explaining the details that will rouse his jealousy. The most prominent of these details is the fact that the boys may be able to teach her to play basketball. She knows this will upset him, and at this point, she understands that her fox is sly, but it is also mean.

While the squabbles between Rosie and Bailey are important and the fights between Granny Torrelli and Pardo were important, there are more important things in the world. Granny Torrelli helps the children realize this truth by telling the story of her neighbor’s baby, who almost died. Granny Torrelli says that she did not think about Pardo or the others while she spent time with the sick child. This shows that she was able to see what was truly important at the time and that that was love and life. Rosie and Bailey are also concerned about the fate of the baby while hearing this story, and the story brought the three together as evidenced by the fact that they all touch hands while Granny Torrelli relays the details. Granny Torrelli, Rosie, and Bailey all are or were caught up in their relational entanglements, and it is and was hard for them to see the true value of everything. The near death of an innocent baby, however, is enough to broaden all of their perspectives and allow them to see that there are other things in life than just their friendship dramas and mishaps.

Much of the novel is about the expanding of mindsets, especially The Value of Empathy, and as the novel closes, Rosie feels her mind has been broadened just as she appreciates the cramped physical quarters of her family. Gaining new perspectives is important for all of the characters. Granny Torrelli had to learn that there were bigger problems in the world than her relationship with Pardo, and Rosie and Bailey had to learn the same while they also had to learn to understand each other and each other’s perspectives. The more insight each character gets, the larger their mindset becomes, and the more they can accept in others. Physically, however, Rosie likes her whole family close together within tight confines. They do not have a big house, and she thinks a big house would make things more awkward. This shows that broad mindsets are important to relationships, but physical distance can prove a hindrance.