Kaye Gibbons novel Ellen Foster

This study will analyze Kaye Gibbons novel Ellen Foster, focusing on the motif of food as a means of understanding the development of the character of Ellen, specifically in terms of her ability to move from such mundane (but obviously basic) needs as food to a love for her "colored" friend Starletta.

The preoccupation of Ellen with food serves as a recurring motif throughout the book. This motif is used by Gibbons to highlight the hunger Ellen experienced as a younger child, the continuing sense of physical and emotional insecurity which is intimately related to that lack of food, and the self-centered concerns of the character that are reflected in her obsession with food. The fact that by the end of the novel Ellen is able to finally gain some sense of herself, of security and happiness, and finally come to see the great worth of her friend is a sign that she has moved well beyond her self-centeredness and take the risk of truly loving another human being. This is especially meaningful in the relationship between Ellen and Starletta because, up to that point of opening herself to her love for her friend, Ellen made clear that she considered herself superior to Starletta because of her friend's race.

On the second page of the book, Ellen refers to food, noting that in her foster home

There is a plenty to eat here and if we run out of something we just go to the store and get some more. I had me a egg sandwich for breakfast, mayonnaise on both sides. And I may fix me an

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Starletta a friend, or at least a companion, she is prevented from her fear and her prejudice from truly loving the "colored" girl. It is telling, considering the motif of food and its symbolic meaning which run through the book, that the first scene involving Starletta first focuses on the fact that the girl and her mother "eat dirt" (20). As little food as Ellen might have, the fact that she has more than Starletta gives her a sense of superiority. In comparison with Starletta, Ellen unconsciously at least can feel that she has more food-related security than does her friend. Still, Ellen is able to appreciate those things about Starletta which make her special. At the same time, every time she notes Starletta's special qualities, she accompanies that appreciation with a negative comment, thereby maintaining some emotional distance from her friend, always consciously measuring herself against the girl: "Starletta . . . is not as smart as I am but she is more fun. . . . It got too cold for me and Starletta to play outside in the ditches. That was too bad. Her nose ran all the time" (24; 26). When she makes a gesture of giving to Starletta or hr family, she balances that giving with an accompanying gesture of selfishness, always

Category: Literature - K