49 pages • 1 hour read
Deborah HopkinsonThe Great Trouble
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaSymbols & Motifs
Water Pumps
Throughout The Great Trouble, water pumps act as crucial tools around which geographic spaces and communities are oriented. The most significant of these is the Broad Street water pump, which leads to the cholera epidemic when it becomes contaminated by sewage. Despite the hidden danger that it represents, the pump provides a social nexus for the residents of Golden Square, as is demonstrated when Eel meets Florrie, Mrs. Lewis, Gus, and Annie Ribbons there even before the outbreak of cholera becomes widely known. Notably, Eel stops by the water pump even though he does not drink from that pump, indicating that his visit is prompted more by community than by necessity.
As the novel continues, the water pumps become points of potential danger, given Dr. Snow’s theory that cholera is water-borne. Florrie and Eel diligently mark each water pump on their map of the Broad Street area so that Eel and Dr. Snow can later chart the pumps’ positions relative to the deaths sweeping the area. When the Broad Street water pump handle is removed, this decision becomes a symbol of triumph despite Dr. Snow’s subsequent assertion that the epidemic might have waned somewhat even if the pump handle had not been removed.
Florrie’s Map
Florrie’s map is a fictionalized version of John Snow’s real 1854 cholera map, which is frequently considered an early version of what is now called a “geographic information system.” This method uses the physical location of data to derive a hypothesis or scientific conclusion. Both in the novel and in real life, Dr. Snow’s map uses small rectangular symbols to indicate the number of deaths in a specific location; the greatest density of deaths in this particular outbreak were concentrated around the Broad Street water pump (“1854 Broad Street Cholera Outbreak.” Wikipedia, 22 Jan. 2024).
Unlike Snow’s real-world map, Florrie’s map is created through the efforts of the child protagonists, Florrie and Eel. By making the fictional map identical to Snow’s real map, Deborah Hopkinson suggests that children are just as capable of conducting strong scientific inquiries as adults are. This suggestion is particularly significant and empowering for Florrie, who, as a girl, lacks Eel’s experience with formal education and his opportunities for educational advancement. Additionally, the map satisfies Florrie’s desire to create something that will live beyond her, albeit in a far different way than her artistic ambitions might suggest. By making such a useful map, Florrie and Eel designate themselves as both scientists and makers of history.
Dilly
After Mr. and Mrs. Griggs and their son Bernie, die from cholera, seven-year-old Betsy Griggs leaves to live with her aunt but cannot take her dog, Dilly. Although Eel privately laments that stray animals seem to continually come his way, he adopts the dog and quickly grows to care for her. Dilly, whose full name is Piccadilly after the neighborhood in London, represents the loss caused by the epidemic and the capacity for hope, community, and love that remains even amid such dire circumstances. When Eel is kidnapped by his stepfather, Fisheye Bill Tyler, he thinks that Dilly is lost. However, her sudden, almost magical reappearance represents the novel’s persistent optimism, for the dog’s survival implies that even when things are at their bleakest, there is always hope that the situation will improve.
