The Great Gilly Hopkins

Gilly doesn’t warm up to her grandmother because she views her as a stranger who is coming between her and Courtney. The awkward atmosphere when Gilly meets her grandmother for the first time is portrayed in the imagery of Gilly and her grandmother as “two string puppets” (108) when they sit down on the couches in Maime Trotter’s living room. Gilly is disappointed by her grandmother’s “old fashioned hat,” and she describes her Southern voice as sounding “like silk to Trotter’s burlap” (108). The sadness that her grandmother feels about Courtney’s disappearance is expressed in the stilted speech that she uses when she tries to explain this to Gilly: “the woman was pushing hard against the words to keep from crying [...] She stopped trying to talk and took a handkerchief from her purse” (109).

The author uses imagery to depict the disarray of Maime Trotter’s house when Gilly’s grandmother visits. The house is described as looking like “they had been bombed” (106). By dramatizing the effect when Gilly’s grandmother sees the conditions Gilly is living in, the author makes it more realistic that Gilly’s grandmother would insist on Gilly coming to live with her.

The author also uses dialogue to show how Gilly’s feelings toward Maime Trotter have changed. During the dinner, they have a humorous conversation about Maime Trotter falling on Gilly, “laughing until the tears came” (116). Gilly is so happy to see everyone better that she momentarily forgets about her grandmother.

Gilly’s conversation with Agnes highlights how attached she has become to Maime Trotter and the rest of the family. Agnes comments that they are not her “family,” and Gilly threatens Agnes. The closeness between William Ernest and Gilly is shown in the moment when William Ernest says he could beat up Agnes, and Gilly laughs and says that “it wouldn’t be fair” because Agnes is “puny” (118). The comradery between William Ernest and Gilly sets a heartwarming tone.

The description of Maime Trotter’s face when Miss Ellis tells Gilly that her mother wants her to live permanently with her grandmother captures Maime Trotter’s sense of helplessness. Maime Trotter’s eyes were like “those of a bear on a totem pole” (119). This lifelessness captures Maime Trotter’s distress at the news that Gilly is leaving, as well as a sense of futility because Maime Trotter cannot do anything to keep Gilly with her. When Gilly cries and yells at Maime Trotter to do something to prevent this from happening, Maime Trotter’s sadness begins “breaking up the totem-pole stare” (121). Maime Trotter is trying her best to be strong for Gilly.

The interaction between Miss Ellis and Gilly when Miss Ellis says, “So you goofed it, right?” (121) shows that Miss Ellis doesn’t completely understand Gilly’s feelings toward her mother, though Miss Ellis tries her best. The author uses imagery to show Miss Ellis’ discomfort with conversations about Gilly’s mother. Her eyebrow twitches again when Gilly asks if she is going with her mother, and Miss Ellis must explain that she is going with her grandmother. Gilly’s insistence that she remembers her biological mother makes Miss Ellis feel frustrated, and Miss Ellis expresses her frustration by stating, “God help the children of the flower children” (119). This comment gives additional information about Courtney by implying that she left home for San Francisco to join the hippie movement of the 1960s.

The dinner Maime Trotter makes the day before Gilly is leaving shows how sad everyone in the family is feeling. The imagery of the fried chicken “so crisp it would crackle when you bit it” (123) and the mashed potatoes with “creamy peaks” highlights Maime Trotter’s wish to do something special for Gilly, showing her love for Gilly by cooking a meal with cherry pie and fruit salad with marshmallows. However, this only emphasizes how torn everyone is feeling; though they are sitting in front of a feast, William Ernest’s face is covered with “big, silent tears” (123) and Mr. Rudolph sits quietly. Gilly is consumed with guilt and regret, thinking about what she wrote in the letter and feeling ashamed.

Gilly has realized that just because Maime Trotter is not her biological mother does not mean that she has not mothered her. The imagery that the author uses when Maime Trotter comforts Gilly shows their attachment. When Maime Trotter tells Gilly how sad she is about her leaving, her entire body begins “to shake with giant sobs” (128). In the past, when Gilly was sad and Maime Trotter tried to comfort her, Gilly always refused her help, insisting that she doesn’t need anyone. The vulnerability that Gilly shows with Maime Trotter now symbolizes her transformation.