Because of Winn-Dixie — Chapter 9

About This Passage

This passage is a model of how DiCamillo handles the introduction of a new character whose function in the book will be central. Notice the structure: physical description (old, crinkly brown skin, floppy hat, no teeth), refusal of the inherited label (didn't look like a witch), affirmation of the actual person (looked nice), and a final piece of evidence (Winn-Dixie liked her). The whole introduction is rendered in five short sentences. The physical description does the necessary work of placing Gloria as a specific person — old, embodied, marked by time. The refusal of the witch label is delivered without commentary; DiCamillo does not say 'and so Opal realized that the boys had been wrong'; she just states the conclusion as a perception. The final piece of evidence — 'Winn-Dixie liked her. I could tell.' — is the most important sentence. DiCamillo trusts the dog as a moral instrument: if Winn-Dixie likes someone, that person is safe. This trust in the dog's perception is consistent with the book's broader claim that small creatures often know things adults have forgotten how to see. The passage is also a small lesson in how to undo a label without lecturing the reader. Opal does not argue against the witch story; she simply reports what she sees. The label is dissolved by description, not by argument. Copying this passage teaches a writer how to introduce a character whose role will be to overturn an inherited prejudice — without ever announcing that the prejudice is being overturned.

Narration Prompt

Summarize the chapter in no more than four sentences. Then identify the central question the chapter is inquiring into beneath its surface plot, and defend your reading.

Discussion Questions

1. DiCamillo introduces Gloria through a sequence of physical observations followed by a conclusion: 'She was old, with crinkly brown skin... she didn't look like a witch. She looked nice.' Analyze this introduction as a craft move. What is DiCamillo trusting the reader to do with the unspoken word that hovers around this passage — the racial identification that the description signals but does not name?
2. Gloria's central claim — 'I got to rely on my heart' — is an invented epistemology. She has constructed her own theory of how to know people, suited to her specific situation. Is DiCamillo making a claim that all genuine wisdom is invented (worked out by particular people from particular limitations), or is she making the more modest claim that some kinds of wisdom require limitations to develop? The two readings have different stakes.

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide