Flora And Ulysses

“It was as if the several doors in the dark room of his self (doors which he hadn’t even known existed) had suddenly been flung wide. Everything was shot through with meaning, purpose, light.”

After Ulysses is sucked up by Tootie’s vacuum and saved by Flora, he finds that he is no longer an ordinary squirrel. Everything seems more meaningful, beautiful, and important than it was before. As Ulysses develops a bond with Flora, he comes to love the world for all its joys and flaws, illustrating the novel’s theme, Becoming Illuminated.

“Alfred sheds light into the darkest corners of the universe. He can fly. Also, he visits the elderly. And that’s what a superhero is. And I think you might be one, too.”

Alfred T. Slipper is Flora’s fictional hero. When Alfred isn’t helping people as Incandesto, he is a janitor whose only loyal companion is his bird, Dolores. Flora knows a great deal about superheroes from reading Incandesto comics, and is certain that she’s found a real-life version of Incandesto in Ulysses. Incandesto is an embodiment of the novel’s theme, Becoming Illuminated, because he represents light in troubled times. Like Incandesto, Ulysses fights for the ones he loves and improves the world around him just by being himself.

“Squirtel! I am. Ulysses. Born anew.”

The first time Ulysses communicates using words, this quote is what he writes. Ulysses quickly learns about The Power of Words when he sees how Flora and Tootie react to finding out that he can type. He’s still a squirrel, but is well aware that he isn’t the same as he once was. He now understands the world and himself on a deeper level. Ulysses’s first words begin a chain of many communications, each of which serves an important purpose.

“Holy bagumba, thought Flora. Things are going to change around here. We’re going to be vanquishing villains left and right.”

Quoting her favorite superhero Incandesto, Flora realizes that, with Ulysses by her side, her world is about to change. Flora has high hopes about Ulysses’s potential and The Possibility of the Impossible. She considers herself a cynic, but Ulysses is slowly changing her into someone who allows herself to dream.

“There was nothing he could do except to be himself, to try to make the letters on the keyboard speak the truth of his heart, to work to make them reveal the essence of the squirrel he was.”

Upon being told that Ulysses can write, Tootie wants to see the act for herself. She invites Flora and Ulysses over to her house, and offers Ulysses her computer. Ulysses looks at the keyboard and screen, well aware of The Power of Words as he decides what to write. He wants to be himself, and for others to know who he is; he is honest and genuine, and uses his new abilities to express what it means to be a squirrel.

“All words at all times, true or false, whispered or shouted, are clues to the workings of the human heart. Listen. You must, if you care to understand anything at all, become a Giant Ear.”

Flora often uses the bonus sections of her Incandesto comics to guide her decisions and inform her judgments. One of these sections, “The Criminal Element,” suggests that anyone who is on the lookout for criminals should listen closely. Flora listens as her mother tells her father to kill Ulysses with a shovel, and realizes that The Power of Words is not always a positive thing.

“The world in all its smelly glory, in all its treachery and joy and nuttiness, washed over Ulysses, ran through him, filled him. He could smell everything. He could even smell the blue of the sky.”

Despite learning that he might be killed, Ulysses continues to feel happy. He is used to his life being threatened, being a squirrel, and doesn’t let another threat get him down. Instead, he enjoys the sights and smells around him as he rides in a car with Flora and her father, and feels grateful to be where he is and who he is. This quote helps illustrate the theme, Becoming Illuminated.

“When Incandesto flew, when he became a brilliant streak of light in the darkness of the world, he was usually headed somewhere, to save someone, and Dolores was always flying at his side, offering advice, encouragement, and wisdom.”

Incandesto is a symbol of the novel’s themes, Becoming Illuminated and The Possibility of the Impossible. The first time Ulysses flies, it is as if he lights up the darkness, just like Incandesto. In this case, there is darkness between Flora and her father. Flora’s father has been depressed since the divorce and separation from his daughter and stops responding to Flora’s references to their shared love of Incandesto. But upon seeing Ulysses fly in the Giant Do-Nut, Flora’s father smiles genuinely for the first time in a while, and even starts quoting Dolores, Incandesto’s sidekick.

“Flora had forgotten about her father. He was looking up at Ulysses. And he was smiling. It wasn’t a sad smile. It was a happy smile.”

When Flora’s father smiles for the first time in a while, everything changes. Flora feels close to her father again and stands beside him as they watch Ulysses together. She feels comforted and hopeful that her life will improve. George continues to be happy from this point on, as if Ulysses has awakened him from a long, dark sleep. This quote helps illustrate the novel’s themes, Becoming Illuminated and The Possibility of the Impossible.

“So much had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours that somewhere along the way, he had stopped worrying. Everything had become interesting, as opposed to worrisome. If he was dead, well, that was interesting, too.”

Because Ulysses is a squirrel, one who has been transformed into a superhero (Becoming Illuminated), he is able to see the world clearly. He loves everything about life, including Flora, words, food, and smells. He doesn’t worry about the possibility of death, as he knows it is inevitable; instead, Ulysses only wants to enjoy every moment of life.

“Cynics are people who are afraid to believe.”

Flora meets Dr. Meescham, a kind philosopher who lives across from her father in their apartment complex. Dr. Meescham shares many profound thoughts with Flora, and in this moment, they discuss George’s capacious heart and the importance of believing in The Possibility of the Impossible. She insists that being cynical is not a healthy way to live, as a cynic doesn’t allow themselves to be open to the possibility of something amazing happening. She also explains Pascal’s wager to Flora—the idea that it is better to believe and lose nothing than to refrain from believing and lose everything.

“He lifted a vacuum cleaner over his head. He wrote some poetry. He hasn’t saved anyone, though. And that’s what superheroes are supposed to do, save people.”

Flora thinks about all the things Ulysses has done and wonders why he has yet to act as a proper superhero. While he has superpowers, she doesn’t think him capable of saving people. This quote foreshadows several future events, including Ulysses attempting to save Flora’s parents from the landlord’s cat, and inadvertently saving Flora’s relationships with both parents by bringing joy and The Possibility of the Impossible back into their lives.

“The superhero was enormously, inordinately pleased with himself. He felt immensely powerful! He felt like writing a poem!”

When George is attacked by the landlord’s cat, Ulysses jumps on the cat and throws it across the hallway. Afterward, he feels proud of himself for performing a daring act and living up to Flora’s hopes for him. Whenever Ulysses feels inspired, he wants to write about it; this shows how The Power of Words becomes a common component of Ulysses’s conscious thought.

“William Spiver said that the universe was expanding…That means there will be more of everything! More cheese puffs, more jelly sandwiches, more words, poems, more love. And more giant donuts…Maybe even gianter donuts.”

Ulysses pays close attention to the world around him and listens carefully to what people say. He hears William tell Flora about the expansion of the universe and starts to consider what this implies. Ulysses feels excited at the prospect of more of the things he loves existing. He is a perpetual optimist who maintains his squirrel-like ability to take pleasure in simple things throughout the novel.

“The sun was shining into the kitchen, illuminating everything: Ulysses’s whiskers, the typewriter keys, her father’s upturned and smiling face, and her mother’s astonished and disbelieving one. Even William Spiver was illuminated, his white hair glowing like a wild halo.”

Becoming Illuminated is one of the novel’s central themes. It has a double meaning, referring to the process of opening one’s mind and learning about the world, and shining a light in the darkest of times. When Flora and her father return home, Flora confronts her mother about Ulysses, and even tells her that she wants to move out. Flora’s mother reacts coldly, hurting Flora. To cheer her up, Ulysses flies around the room, and Flora notices that he is illuminated by the sun shining through the window. In fact, everything around her is illuminated, as if this dark period of her life will soon give way to light.

“Flora’s father had been pushed to the brink, too. But everything to do with Ulysses had affected him differently. It had cheered him up somehow, maybe because the holy-bagumba-ness of it all had reminded him of Incandesto and Dolores and, also, of the possibility of impossible things.”

Flora considers the juxtaposition between her mother and father, and how differently they reacted to Ulysses’s powers. Flora’s mother experiences a sort of mental health crisis after witnessing Ulysses’s flight, but Flora’s father was overjoyed and even seemed to revert to his former, more joyful self in the Giant Do-Nut. Flora believes her father’s reaction was fueled by his love of Incandesto comics and the fact that they were something they shared together. Now that Flora’s father feels as though he is a part of her life again, and is once again open to The Possibility of the Impossible, he is happier.

“The piano music got louder. William Spiver took hold of her hand. They sat together on the banks of the Incandesto River, and Flora was perfectly happy. She thought, I don’t feel homesick at all.”

While Ulysses is being kidnapped by Flora’s mother, Flora has a dream in which she is sitting with William and feeling not only happy, but at home. They sit beside a river, and Flora names it after her favorite superhero because, in this dream, she feels light. Both Flora and William are experiencing issues in relation to their mothers, and both have felt homesick for a long time. However, when Flora is with William, she feels safe and at ease. Throughout the novel, William acts as a voice of reason and a trusted companion for Flora during a difficult time in her life.

“She loved his whiskers. She loved his words. She loved his happiness, his little head, his determined heart, his nutty breath. She loved how beautiful he looked when he flew.”

In Ulysses’s absence, Flora thinks about how much she loves him, and regrets never telling him so. Flora and Ulysses formed an instant bond; just as Ulysses loves every part of Flora, she loves every part of him. Ulysses is the embodiment of all of the novel’s themes, bringing light into Flora’s life and helping her repair her broken relationships.

“It was dangerous to allow yourself to believe that what you said directly influenced the universe. But sometimes it did, didn’t it?”

In considering The Possibility of the Impossible, Flora thinks about her Incandesto comics and the “Terrible Things Can Happen to You!” section, which warn against falling for magical thinking and the idea that one’s words can enact change. However, Flora is beyond cynicism at this point, and allows herself to hope as she calls out to a missing Ulysses.

“He though about when Flora had shown him the picture of Alfred T. Slipper in his janitor uniform, and how Alfred had been transformed into the bright light that was Incandesto. The words from the poem that Tootie had recited rose up inside of him.”

When Ulysses is about to be killed by Flora’s mother, he has no choice but to embrace his inner superhero, using the Incandesto comics and Tootie’s poem to propel his escape. With the power of these memories, he flies off into the night to find Flora. This quote helps illustrate the theme, The Power of Words.

“She searched for some kind of advice, acknowledgement, the tiniest clue about what to do in this situation. She came up empty-handed. She was on her own. She laughed.”

Flora always looks to her Incandesto comics for guidance when she is in a confusing or difficult situation. This time, however, she finds that nothing in her comics has prepared her for searching for a lost squirrel in the middle of the night. Instead, Flora must rely on her intuition to lead her to Ulysses and remain open to The Possibility of the Impossible.

“Flora was so close to William Spiver that she could feel his heart beating wildly inside of him. She thought, I sure have felt a lot of hearts recently.”

While Flora and William are holding hands, William trips over the lamp cord that Tootie’s holding and falls, taking Flora with him. For a moment, Flora and William are lying on top of each other, and Flora can feel William’s heartbeat. This symbolizes how close they’ve become, and Flora realizes she’s befriended many people, and a squirrel, over the past few days. All of this is unexpected for someone who started out as a cynic, but Flora is opening up to The Possibility of the Impossible.

“Here I am, thought Flora. And my mother loves me. Holy bagumba.”

When Flora’s mother comes to the apartment complex, she is desperate and panicked as she’s been searching for her missing daughter. When she realizes that Flora is safe with her father, she is relieved. Afterward, everyone gathers in Dr. Meescham’s apartment and talks out their issues. Flora’s mother admits that she kidnapped Ulysses because she was afraid of Flora becoming too strange and being isolated from the world; she wanted Flora to be “normal.” safe, and happy. However, when she realized that Flora was missing, she only wanted her daughter back. Flora realizes her mother loves her after all, and feels overwhelmed.