Tornado

For both the narrator and Pete, everyday life in Tornado Alley requires resilience in the face of natural disasters. Throughout the novel, Byars provides specific examples of how members of both families prepare for, recover from, and cope with fear regarding tornados. First, practical preparations are important in both narratives. In the present timeline, Pete warns the family about the imminent tornado and helps the family into the storm cellar. He exhibits a practical attitude to the storm when he reassures Beth that Link will be okay: “He’ll be all right. He can get in a ditch. You come on now” (2). He focuses on the practicalities of what Link can do to wait out the storm and the fact that Beth needs to get into the cellar. Similarly, in Pete’s childhood memory, Pete’s father instructs the children to “stay close to the house” (6) after his mother smells a storm. In both storylines, the families demonstrate preparation for the storm by taking signs it is coming seriously and taking whatever action they can.

Leaning on family connections and communal experience is also an important aspect of the resilience demonstrated in Tornado.