49 pages • 1 hour read
Ms. Bixby's Last Day
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Symbols & Motifs
Failed Ambitions
At an early point in the narrative, before the three narrators set out to surprise her at the hospital, Maggie comments to one of her students that sometimes we know we will lose a struggle before we start, yet we must still rise to meet the challenge with our best effort. With these words she sets the stage for a motif that recurs throughout: the failure of one’s ambitions. As Maggie eventually reveals, she failed as a child when she tried to be a magician, only to face the unceremonious scorn of her family when her major trick failed.
In turn, each of the narrators confronts his own failed ambition. Crashing over a trash can as he pursues the man who stole money meant to buy a gift for Maggie, Topher twists his ankle badly, acknowledging when he cannot walk afterward that he has failed in his dream to be a superhero. Steve, pressured by his parents to be the perfect counterpart to his overachieving sister, must admit that he simply cannot equal or surpass his sister in any endeavor. Brand, stymied in his desire to motivate his father simply to get up off the couch, admits that he cannot inspire his father to continue his physical rehabilitation.
Each of these failures serves as a symbolic preparation for the most painful failed ambition of all: Maggie’s inability to survive cancer. Each incidence of failed ambition supports the narrative’s theme of Persistence in the Face of Futility.
The Hobbit
For the three narrators, the conclusion of their quest takes place with a makeshift picnic with Maggie atop a grassy hill outside the hospital where she receives treatment. They produce a copy of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, which Maggie had been reading to the class prior to her departure and ask her to read the conclusion. The Tolkien book serves as a symbol for the narrators’ quest. Like Bilbo, the main character in The Hobbit, the three boys set out on an adventure unlike anything they have experienced before. They encounter unusual characters and unexpected danger with events continually taking surprising, unpredictable turns. Like Bilbo, they enter a contest of riddles with an odd stranger that distracts them from their intended task. As in The Hobbit, they must deal with a mighty, insuperable dragon, awakened unintentionally. In the case of Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, however, the name of the dragon is not Smaug but pancreatic cancer. At one point, the boys’ narrative even refers to the awakening of a dragon.
The Hobbit is a complex tale about a complacent person manipulated into taking great risks. In the course of living through his quest, Bilbo attains wisdom, invaluable experience, deep friendships, wealth, and magical powers. Anderson describes each of the three narrators—forced into their unexpected journey by circumstances beyond their control—as growing in resourcefulness and wisdom as a result of their shared excursion. Chapter 14 of the narrative depicts the three boys playing video games in Brand’s home when the news comes of Maggie’s death. The scene is symbolically referent to Bilbo’s return to his home in the shire after his adventures in The Hobbit.
Proverbs
Each school day, a new thought greets Maggie’s class from the blackboard. Throughout the course of the day, the teacher offers pertinent quotations that relate to the discussions taking place. Often these quotations serve to empower students, as when Maggie affirms the uniqueness of Steve’s ability through the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Occasionally, Maggie uses the quotes to offer a differing viewpoint. When Steve points out that it is statistically unlikely for soul mates to find one another in a world with so many billions of people, Maggie quotes Albert Einstein, who observes that there are forces at work in human life that go beyond statistics and scientific axioms. In addition to the maxims of great thinkers, Maggie shares philosophical principles in the form of morals to the stories that her class discusses. Sometimes particular students find themselves the recipients of these morals. The narrators describe Maggie as frequently smiling at one individual as she offers a particularly pertinent thought. This motif underscores the narrative’s theme of The Unique Specialness of Every Individual.
Maggie uses a slogan to confront Mr. Sakata, Steve’s father, who comes to criticize the teacher for giving Steve a B on his report card. Steve writes: “My father cleared his throat. ‘My son is a straight A student, Ms. Bixby’ […] ‘Is that what your bumper sticker says?’” (89). Listening to this exchange, Steve laughs aloud because the bumper sticker on the back of his parents’ Volvo indeed proclaims that their children are straight A students. Maggie then quotes a line from E. T., saying, “B. Good,” and touches fingertips with Steve. Maggie exhibits deep understanding of how proverbs may speak prophetically to specific individuals, and she possesses the ability to share these quotations at the appropriate moment.
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By John David Anderson
