The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

by Kate DiCamillo

how can a story end happily if there is no love?

“It is a horrible, terrible thing, the worst thing, to watch somebody you love die right in front of you and not be able to do nothing about it.

Edward knew what it was like to say over and over again the names of those you had left behind. He knew what it was like to miss someone. And so he listened. And in his listening, his heart opened wide and then wider still.

How many times, Edward wondered, would he have to leave without getting the chance to say goodbye?

:(

“What I say is, there’s a use for everything and everything has its use.

Perhaps, he thought, it is not too late, after all, for me to be saved.

Never in his life had Edward been cradled like a baby. Abilene had not done it. Nor had Nellie. And most certainly Bull had not. It was a singular sensation to be held so gently and yet so fiercely, to be stared down at with so much love. Edward felt the whole of his china body flood with warmth.

“I have already been loved,” said Edward. “I have been loved by a girl named Abilene. I have been loved by a fisherman and his wife and a hobo and his dog. I have been loved by a boy who played the harmonica and by a girl who died. Don’t talk to me about love,” he said. “I have known love.”

Edward was the lone contrarian. He prided himself on not hoping, on not allowing his heart to lift inside of him. He prided himself on keeping his heart silent, immobile, closed tight. I am done with hope, thought Edward Tulane.

“I wonder who will come for me this time. Someone will come. Someone always comes. Who will it be?”

You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.”

If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless.

What if there was somebody waiting to love him? What if there was somebody whom he would love again? Was it possible?

“Open your heart,” she said gently. “Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart.”

Someone will come; someone will come for you.

“Look, Mama,” said Maggie, “look at him.” “I see him,” said the woman. She dropped the umbrella. She put her hand on the locket that hung around her neck. And Edward saw then that it was not a locket at all. It was a watch, a pocket watch. It was his watch. “Edward?” said Abilene. Yes, said Edward. “Edward,” she said again, certain this time. Yes, said Edward, yes, yes, yes. It’s me.

Does being loved change the way loneliness is felt?

Yes