The View From Saturday

Konigsburg uses this section of the novel to dig deeper into Mrs. Olinski’s character development as she progresses on her journey toward Accepting and Embracing Change. On Mrs. Olinski’s first visit to Sillington house, she sees her old friend Margaret and her new husband, Izzy, greet their grandchildren with unabashed joy and love. The psychological trauma that Mrs. Olinski has endured following the loss of her husband and her inability to have children rears up and engulfs her in a jealous rage. Everything she has lost is brought into sharp focus, threatening to jeopardize her friendships and ability to see beyond her own sadness. Mr. Singh, who has also suffered loss, is the character who catalyzes the healing process for Mrs. Olinski. The simple act of slowly enjoying a cup of tea, served with kindness and care, is enough to quell Mrs. Olinski’s rage.

That moment of calm brings clarity, and Mrs. Olinski is finally able to see the answer to the question she’s been wrestling with for weeks, selecting Julian as the fourth member of her team—a moment that points to the novel’s theme of Teamwork, Friendship, and Making Critical Choices. Mrs. Olinski had misjudged Julian as “an island under himself, definitely not a team player […] Julian stood alone. Just as he had stood alone on the first day of school at the blackboard in front of the word CRIPPLE” (121). Her perspective had been clouded by her own problems in seeing Julian clearly. In contrast, Julian had given much thought to Mrs. Olinski even as he was being bullied himself. Mrs. Olinski’s character grows in confidence as her team progresses through the competition, showing glimmers of the teacher she once was returning. Her newfound confidence allows Mrs. Olinski calmly to seamlessly quash the homeroom bullies Ham Knapp and Jared Lord by putting them on the spot in front of the entire class for several uncomfortable, awkward, and humiliating minutes.

The importance of Sillington house as a place where the characters are able to be their truest selves without judgment is underscored during Mrs. Olinski’s second visit. She finally learns The Souls’ name for themselves from Mr. Singh, who also offers insight into her own circumstances. Mrs. Olinski chooses to surrender to the calming and inclusive atmosphere at Sillington house without resisting: “Mrs. Olinski felt—the sensation was so strange to her that she hardly remembered the word—relaxed” (141). The overarching message of the narrative is one of acceptance, kindness, and respect, and this is what Mrs. Olinski finds at Sillington house. Konigsburg seems to position Mr. Singh’s character as a version Mrs. Olinski’s subconscious, helping her untangle her thoughts, make sense of her emotions, and dispel her self-doubt—a characterization that is underscored by the fact that Mr. Singh seems to know things about Mrs. Olinski that she has never shared with anyone. For example, even though Mrs. Olinski never told Mr. Singh that she was considering Ham as the fourth team member, Mr. Singh says, “Do not feel uneasy, Mrs. Olinski. Hamilton Knapp would truly have been a terrible choice” (143). While Mr. Singh’s mystical characterization serves to illuminate Mrs. Olinski’s character arc, it provides another instance of Mr. Singh in the “magical negro” role in Konigsburg’s narrative—a trope in which a character of color has little interiority or character development of their own, imbued instead with vaguely defined, mystical abilities that serve the arc of a white protagonist.

Both Dr. Rohmer and Homer Fairbanks’s ignorance and Michael Froelich’s change of heart emphasize the critical need for Respecting and Understanding Differences. Dr. Rohmer, whose racist and ableist tendencies were exposed in Chapter 2, works with a deputy superintendent, Homer Fairbanks, who is equally ignorant. Fairbanks does not show overt bigotry like Rohmer, but his ignorance is highlighted when he asks Julian which Indian “tribe” he belongs to, compounding the narrow view of “Indians” shown previously by Rohmer and underscoring how often Julian is faced with racial discrimination and ignorance.

In contrast, Michael’s character has a change of heart when he comes to understand that Julian and The Souls deserve his respect, however different they might be from him. After The Souls win the district championship, Michael, the student who initially teams up with bullies Ham and Jared to ambush Julian, ultimately leads the sixth grade supporters in their symbolic cheer (pinning rope to their shirts) and hanging a celebratory noose on Mrs. Olinski’s van. Gaining the support of Michael signifies that The Souls’ plan to give Mrs. Olinski “a lift between switches” is working (138). Kindness, together with perseverance and patience, can change hearts.