Stepping on the Cracks

Tall, skinny, 12-year-old Margaret is a self-proclaimed “chicken through and through” (22). She is afraid of breaking rules or getting on her new teacher’s bad side. Even as a little girl, Margaret was afraid of the dark and the monsters under the bed that only her older brother Jimmy could save her from. Despite her fears, Margaret follows her impulsive best friend Elizabeth everywhere. Their relationship is not always healthy—Margaret is passive and avoids conflict, putting up with Elizabeth’s occasional bullying and allowing her to talk her into doing things against her better judgment—but it makes Margaret feel braver.

Margaret is also somewhat invisible at home, where her parents are preoccupied with the war and Jimmy’s safety. Since she cannot talk about her feelings with either of her parents, she must learn on her own that nothing is as clear-cut as it seems. As the novel and war progress, she notices cracks forming in the safe world of her childhood.

Margaret eventually discovers her own form of bravery when she meets Stuart. Always imaginative and empathetic, Margaret is the first to entertain the possibility that Stuart’s reason for deserting is valid. In doing so she questions her fixed beliefs about the nature of the war.