Hope Was Here

Hope Yancey began her life as Tulip, born prematurely to a mother who couldn’t handle the responsibility of a child. Deena’s sister, Addie, adopted Tulip, who became Hope on her 12th birthday. Hope’s name becomes a symbol of her character, as she deals with her mother’s abandonment and frequently moves from place to place. She develops a strong sense of determination and resilience. However, when Gleason Beal steals all their money, forcing Addie to close the Blue Box and pack up their car once again to move across the country, Hope feels like this move might be the one that breaks her. She later reveals to G.T. that Gleason’s treachery almost made her renounce her symbolic moniker. Having lost faith in humanity, specifically men, and weary of forcing herself to make new friends in yet another new town, Hope arrives in Mulhoney, Wisconsin, emotionally broken and lost. Remembering a metaphor her friend Harrison once shared, Hope thinks, “I am the zebra without stripes shouting from the U-Haul trailer” (90). She misjudges the town as simple and small and holds little hope that she can be happy in a place best known for its love of cheese.