Ellen Foster

These chapters draw the final contrasts and parallels in the book. In contrast to her earlier Christmas, which Ellen spent alone but had presents she liked, her Christmas with Nadine and Dora magnifies what Ellen doesn’t have. Dora’s belief in Santa Claus makes her impossible for Ellen to relate to, as Ellen’s illusions in magical aid and human generosity have been greatly strained. Where her gift of the spoon rest to Starletta’s family was accepted with thanks and immediately given a place, Ellen’s gift of personal artwork to her aunt and cousin is regarded as tacky. Her paper frame is slighted as a reflection of Ellen’s lesser worth, and the humiliation cuts deep. She responds by trying to prove her worth with her own unique Ellen strategy, showing her microscope and claiming she has a boyfriend. Nick Adams is the name of a protagonist in The Nick Adams Stories, a collection of short fiction by Ernest Hemingway published in 1972. Ellen counts on Dora not knowing this book. Proof of Ellen’s intellect breaks the strained acceptance Nadine has displayed toward Ellen; Nadine expects gratitude and subservience from her niece, and she has no ability to understand or relate to either Ellen’s personality or her defense mechanisms.

Ellen’s march across town on a cold Christmas Day, in her eye-catching dress and no coat, clutching her box of possessions and $166, is portrayed as a comical and crushing quest. Her production of money to pay for her keep is evidence that Ellen is not persuaded that the foster woman might simply take Ellen in because she needs help. Her interview with her new mama, touching on the ways other adults have betrayed or disappointed her, evokes pathos. However, her relief at finally having a safe place to stay is palpable, and the many scenes where Ellen lies in her new bed reflecting on her situation, illustrate that the stillness, a counterpoint to the turbulence and threat of her other situations, is allowing Ellen to finally begin processing and healing from The Effects of Abuse and Trauma.

Ellen recognizes that she now has real nurturance in the care and affection new mama shows her. This woman has the resources to recognize and respond when Ellen feels overwhelmed and anxious, using therapeutic tools like breathing techniques as coping methods. Her wish not to let her father have space in her head continues Ellen’s preference not to ruminate on her memories nor relive traumatizing incidents. Her belief that the girl who had her room before her would have had a promising future because of the opportunities granted her by a supportive home environment ironically mirrors the judges’ belief that Ellen’s family would provide the best care, as her family disproved.

Ellen’s wish to reaffirm her relationship with Starletta is as much a wish to ensure her connection to her friend as to make peace with the past life that Starletta represents. Ellen’s more evolved understanding, though still limited, about race and the inability of skin color to define a person’s character shows her growing maturity. The pride she demonstrates to her classmates at school that Starletta is staying with her and her warning the bus driver that Starletta will sit in the front with Ellen announces that she no longer subscribes to de facto segregation held over from Jim Crow laws. She recognizes that the ideological dispute of the Civil War and civil rights movement was the insistence of the full humanity and equal citizenship of Black people. Ellen is proud of herself for this realization, as she understands the ways her former beliefs were harmful and wrong and comes to the conclusion that her Black friend is a full person worthy of love and respect.

Starletta falls asleep during this recitation, and Ellen’s injunction to Starletta to “rest” parallels the earlier image when Ellen tucks her mother into bed after her mother takes a fatal dose of pills. Here, the notion of rest may reflect what Ellen is experiencing, the chance to withdraw and be safe from troubling events or circumstances. The “harder row to hoe,” a common expression, is drawn from Ellen’s summer job of cotton chopping and reflects sincere acknowledgment that Ellen recognizes the burdens of Racial Prejudice and Discrimination, along with the stress of relentless bias, which Starletta encounters every day. Her ability to reflect on and empathize with another’s situation signals emotional growth in Ellen, as well as the practical optimism that is an intrinsic part of her character and a key element in the novel’s voice.