Roll With It

In Chapter 4, Sumner subverts classist assumptions about living inside a trailer through the imagery provided by Ellie and her fondness of her grandparents’ home. Ellie says: “Everything in this kitchen is yellow. The tables, the chairs, the curtain, the rug. Even the floor, cracked plastic tile, is kind of yellow. I love it. It’s like sitting on the sun (52).” Ellie elucidates her love of her grandmother’s kitchen using a color that she associates with warmth and happiness. Sumner poetically describes the home as having rooms that flow one into another due to its smallness. Ellie also notes that her grandmother has made preparations for her arrival: She has placed a number of the cooking supplies in the bottom cabinets, within Ellie’s reach. This is an important gesture for Ellie as it displays Mema’s care and consideration for her. While the novel explores The Social Impact of Class, Sumner presents warmth, happiness, and care in working-class communities.

Chapters 4 and 5 delve further into characterizing Mema. She is described as having long gray hair which is styled in a braided bun. Ellie says that “[s]he looks like the grandmother in a fairytale” (52), applying a magical quality to Mema. She is depicted as a devoted Christian who regularly attends Methodist church. She is strong-willed and remains adamant in her interactions with Alice about her ability to care for both her home and husband. This conflict draws a comparison between Ellie and her grandparents who are both advocating for their own independence. Nonetheless, Mema is able to make a reasonable compromise with Alice when she realizes their good intentions.

Coralee is also introduced in Chapter 4. She is an eccentric adolescent with a good heart who dreams of one day becoming a country music star. She is immediately able to treat Ellie as an equal, assists her in pushing her wheelchair when needed, and listens to what Ellie has to say. Each of these characteristics is essential in developing the theme of Finding Belonging With Family and Friends. Sumner presents reciprocity as the basis of this belonging when Coralee asks Ellie about CP and Ellie asks her a prying question in return.

The secondary conflict of the novel—the question of her grandpa and Mema’s independence—further intensifies in this section. Jonah’s memory falters in the midst of this conflict, and Mema has to intercede with his behavior before the church. This episode epitomizes the Common Challenges Faced by People With a Disability. In Chapter 5, Mema and Alice still must come to some kind of agreement on the length of time that Alice will spend at their home. Sumner creates further tension when no one likes Ellie’s cookies; Baking as a motif highlights Ellie’s sense of her identity among her community, which hangs in the balance in the early chapters.

The theme of Finding Belonging With Family and Friends develops at the end of Chapter 5 when Ellie begins to feel as if she does belong. She is less lonely than when she was in Nashville with her mother because she also has Mema and her grandpa. Her friendship with Coralee is also blossoming and she comes to feel as if this is where she belongs. This is the first time that readers see Ellie not wanting to return to Nashville, highlighting her character development.