Runaway Ralph

The bugle that sounds at the beginning and end of every day at Happy Acres Camp is symbolic of the call inside Ralph to rebel and explore the world outside of the hotel. The bugle accompanies Garf when he first arrives at the hotel and mirrors Garf’s sad mood: “The stroke of nine was followed by the slow sad notes of music that lingered and died mysteriously in the distance every night at this time” (4). Garf’s parents tell him what the sound is, which leads Ralph to associate the bugle’s song with children who might understand him. After a long night being forced to share his prized possession, the bugle sounds again:

The clock struck six, and in the distance Ralph heard the notes of the distant bugle, this time lively notes that seemed a summons to excitement and adventure and, now, that he knew where the notes came from, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (21-22).

The second instance has a different sound and reaches the part of Ralph that craves adventure, independence, and a change of scenery. The last important bugle is when Ralph arrives at camp, and it evokes the danger Ralph finds at the end of his trip: “He was looking for a place to hide when the notes of the bugle, so close he felt as if they might shatter him, burst forth in the lively morning tune” (39).