The Cricket In Times Square

“Crickets are good luck” (13), Mario tells Mama Bellini, trying to persuade her to let him keep Chester. Luck is an important motif that illuminates the different personalities of the story’s characters. The book refers to luck and fortune several times. Mario’s comment, along with Mr. Smedley’s prophesy and the message of the fortune cookie, all foreshadow that good luck will come to Mario. In contrast, Mama Bellini thinks that Chester is bad luck—a jinx—after he eats the $2 bill and (she thinks) starts the fire. She declares that Chester is “good luck going backwards” (99).

Different characters define good luck in different ways. Mama Bellini views good luck as financial fortune and success. To her, Chester brings the opposite: a loss of money and inventory, which poses a threat to her family’s livelihood. Chester turns their luck around, however, increasing sales with his music. Good luck brings out Mama’s entrepreneurial, practical side, and she seizes the chance to make more money by selling papers and magazines to the listening crowd: “[S]he wasn’t one to be so dazed by good fortune that she missed out on such a chance” (120). Tucker, like Mama, sees “a fortune in this” (122). Papa embraces their good luck in a different way. Although he’s tickled that they “have a celebrity in their midst”—after the newspaper publishes an article about Chester—Papa, who is a passionate music lover, enjoys Chester’s playing as much as the profits it brings in (118). When Chester worries about the Bellinis’ future, Harry assures him that the newsstand will be fine: “This newsstand has been touched by the Golden Finger of Fortune!” (135)

Sai Fong interprets the fortune cookie message, telling Mario, “Always be leady for happiness” (51). His comment reflects the most valuable fortune: happiness. Mario, Tucker, Harry, and Chester find true good fortune in their friendship and happiness together. As Baltasar Gracián wrote, “To find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing” (“Baltasar Gracian.” AZQuotes, 2023).

The Bellinis’ newsstand represents the Bellini family and their strong work ethic. The newsstand is a family business: Mama, Papa, and Mario each take turns working at the stand to support the family. They work the stand from early morning to late in the evening—scrounging like Tucker, in their own way, to make a sale. The newsstand represents the family’s hard-up financial status. Every sale counts, because as Tucker says, the Bellinis are “people who hardly make two dollars in two days” (62).

All of the family members show a commitment to hard work: They’re dependable, determined, and dedicated to keeping the newsstand going and to making it a success. The fact that Papa hand-built the newsstand reflects his belief in the value of hard work and independence. Likewise, Papa’s pride shows in his choosing to carry some upscale magazines to sell, hoping that they set him apart and above other bigger, more commercial newsstands. Chester brings luck and draws crowds to the newsstand, but the Bellinis capitalize on his fame with their hard work.

The newsstand isn’t only the Bellinis’ livelihood but also an extension of their home because they spend most of their time at the newsstand. It’s where they listen together to opera on winter Saturdays. The book gives no idea of what the family home is like except that the screen door has holes, which suggests that the family doesn’t have the time or money to fix it; their priority is the newsstand and its sales.

The silver bell, “no bigger than a honey bee,” that Sai Fong gives to Chester represents memories (50). For Sai Fong, the bell recalls a sensory memory, the sound of “the littlest bell in Silver Temple, far up the Yangtse River” in China (50). For Chester, the bell is a reminder of all his new experiences in New York. The attempted theft of the bell is the “worst” of the three things that upset Chester and prompt his decision to return to Connecticut. Having a stranger reach into his cage to steal the bell confirms to Chester that his freedom and privacy are diminished. Mario, outraged at the violation, hides the bell in the cash register to keep it safe for Chester, confirming that it belongs to him. Chester takes the bell with him when he leaves, “to remember everything by” (146). The silver bell represents the adventures he had and the friendships he made in New York City. Mario recognizes the bell’s absence as a sign that Chester went home, saying, “My cricket took it and went home” (149). Mario, always sensitive to Chester’s feelings, understands that Chester valued the bell and his memories.

The contrast between sound and silence is an important motif in the story because it informs the theme of The Power of Music. Music generates a listening silence. Mr. Smedley shares the story of how Orpheus’s music was so beautiful that it stopped nature in its tracks: “The whole world was silent” as it listened, and Mario “liked the picture of everyone keeping quiet to listen” (40). Like Orpheus, Chester’s playing—whether his own compositions or human music—inspires silence.

Silence allows people to experience inner quiet and be open to the emotional effects of music. Chester’s music quiets the internal noise of worry and stress and brings peace: “And as the people listened, a change came over their faces. Eyes that looked worried grew soft and peaceful; tongues left of chattering; and ears full of the city’s rustling were rested by the cricket’s melody.” (138-39). Sai Fong and his elderly friend listen silently to Chester with “complete peace” on their faces (83).

In addition, Selden uses sound and silence to illustrate the difference between humankind and nature. New York City, teeming with man-made structures and people and machines, is continuously noisy. When Chester plays, he brings the silence of nature to the busy city and connects city dwellers to the natural world: “You wouldn’t think a cricket’s tiny chirp could carry so far, but when all is silence, the piercing notes can be heard for miles” (139). Chester’s chirp, a small, natural sound that is foreign in the city, becomes powerful when people listen quietly.