67 pages • 2 hours read
Kate AlbusA Place to Hang the Moon
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Point of View
The novel employs a third-person invisible omniscient narrative point of view. An omniscient narrator relays knowledge of the inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions of multiple characters. An invisible omniscient narrator is when the narrator does not make themselves known with “I” pronouns, as opposed to an involved omniscient narrator, who uses first-person pronouns. An invisible narrator is still a distinct entity with their own tone and style, who tells the reader about the characters and their thoughts.
The invisible narrator of A Place to Hang the Moon jumps seamlessly between the thoughts and emotions of all three Pearce children. Since the three children are equal protagonists of the novel, this narrative choice allows the author to fully convey all three children’s thoughts and feelings. This is particularly useful for texts in which narrative action or character-building is largely driven by internal mental and emotional processes.
The Pearce children, for instance, do not fully articulate their innermost desires or emotions. Omniscient point of view conveys the things they will not say out loud, such as William’s longing for an adult who will relieve the burden of parenting his siblings. Edmund is the most open character, the one who yells at Mrs. Griffith and tells Mr. and Mrs. Forrester that he thinks their children framed him. For this, Edmund is considered ill-mannered. An omniscient point of view allows the reader to see these events from an all-encompassing viewpoint, which removes the bias of a close perspective.
Tone
The narrator uses a slightly humorous tone throughout that is reminiscent of novels such as Lemony Snicket’s The Bad Beginning—another story of three wealthy orphans searching for a suitable foster family. This humor is often used to slightly alleviate the seriousness of heavy or upsetting topics. The first line of the novel is, “Funeral receptions can be tough spots to find enjoyment, but eleven-year-old Edmund Pearce was doing his best” (1). This wry comment establishes the setting, introduces a main character and a vital bit of characterization, and establishes the way that the siblings view their grandmother’s funeral. At the same time, the light, playful tone sets the mood for the rest of the narrative, establishing that though the story will address serious topics, it will do so without overwhelming gravitas.
The narrator uses a familiar form of second person address to speak directly to the novel’s reader. For instance, in one of the moments that emphasize The Importance of Stories in Difficult Times, the narrator says to the reader, “You’ve experienced a variety of bedtime stories, I’m certain. You know their magic. A well-chosen bedtime story sets you on the path to the dream you most need to have” (236). This familiar tone establishes a friendly relationship between narrator and reader in which the reader is an active participant in the narrative that is being told. This sets the reader up as a confidant of the narrator and creates a sense of intimacy, as the narrator speaks as though they know the reader well.
Conflict
In Western storytelling, conflict often drives a story’s plot. These conflicts can be internal and external, and are often broken down into broad categories, such as man versus self, man versus man, and man versus nature.
Several levels of conflict are at play in this novel. The main internal conflicts take place within the Pearce children as they juggle the desire for a new home with the reality of their neglectful foster homes. Mrs. Müller also undergoes significant internal conflict. When the children finally ask her to adopt them, she confesses to them that she has wanted to but has “never let [her] mind speak what [her] heart was feeling” (302). Instead, she allowed the townspeople to guilt her into thinking that she was an unsuitable guardian. Both internal conflicts are settled at the end, when the children are finally adopted by Mrs. Müller.
There is also significant external man versus man conflict. Mrs. Müller is at odds with other members of her community, while the Pearce boys clash repeatedly with the Forrester twins. The most prominent of this, however, is the conflict between Edmund and Miss Carr. The children immediately get on Miss Carr’s bad side when they get special permission to stay together on the train north. They have further conflict when Edmund gets motion sickness, and again every time they lose their current billet, which usually comes about as a result of Edmund losing his temper. Regardless of whether Edmund’s reactions were reasonable, Miss Carr always takes the side of the billet family, positioning herself against Edmund and the Pearce children.
The Pearce children and Mrs. Müller help each other mend these conflicts. Edmund has the idea to plant a community garden, which he hopes will build proper connections amongst everyone in the town. Mrs. Müller tells Edmund to tell Miss Carr his idea, and he agrees even though he claims that “[s]he hates [him]” (282). Mrs. Müller knows that their conflict largely came about because Miss Carr is desperate for the townspeople to accept the children. From Miss Carr’s perspective, Edmund caused trouble, which threatened the other children’s prospects. The community garden shows Miss Carr that she and Edmund fundamentally want the same thing, and thus should be on the same team. Miss Carr tells Mrs. Müller that she found the children, especially Edmund, to be “quite a cross to bear” (295), but the garden changed her mind about them.
