The Cricket in Times Square — Chapter 3

About This Passage

Selden is doing a quiet but important thing here: he is showing us the beginning of a friendship through the rhythm of giving food and asking questions. Tucker does not just hand over food; he bites it carefully into two pieces and gives the bigger one to his guest. Then he asks a question — not a yes-or-no question, not a test question, but an invitation to continue the story. This is exactly how real friends talk to each other: they share what they have, and they ask for more. Copying this passage teaches a writer that a whole friendship can be started in three sentences if the writer chooses the right three sentences — food, a question, and an answer.

Narration Prompt

In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?

Discussion Questions

1. In Chapter 1 we learned that Tucker loves to eavesdrop on human beings; now in Chapter 3 we see Tucker listening just as eagerly to Chester's story. Is Tucker really a lover of information — someone who cannot resist a good story no matter who is telling it — or is he something more specific, a creature whose attention to others is actually a form of care? How do you know?
2. Chester Cricket admits that he ate so much liverwurst from the picnic basket that he fell asleep. Tucker Mouse responds sympathetically ('naturally not, why mind? plenty for all, who could blame you?'). Is Tucker's quick forgiveness of Chester a mark of generous spirit, or does it also tell us something about how Tucker himself lives — as a scrounger who takes food from others? Are these two readings in conflict, or do they fit together?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide