Because of Winn-Dixie — Chapter 20

Narration Prompt

Summarize the chapter in no more than four sentences. Then identify the philosophical claim the chapter is making — about unfixable grief, about gathering as response, about inclusion of former antagonists — and evaluate whether DiCamillo argues for the claim or simply observes it.

Discussion Questions

1. Gloria's line 'I believe sometimes that the whole world has an aching heart' is one of the book's most philosophical statements. Is DiCamillo making a universal claim about the human condition that fits within the Christian tradition of the felix culpa, the Buddhist tradition of dukkha, or the contemporary secular tradition of loneliness research? Or is she drawing on something older and more universal than any of these?
2. Opal's response to Gloria's statement is action rather than verbal consolation. Is DiCamillo making a pragmatist claim that action is the proper response to unfixable grief — that one should do something even when doing nothing could be justified — and does this fit with the American pragmatist tradition of James and Dewey?

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