Friendship

One of the primary themes in the novel is that of the friendship between Gypsy and Woodrow. In the beginning, these characters are worlds apart, in that Gypsy is somewhat privileged, whereas Woodrow's family is a working class family, or lower. Gypsy has nice clothing, television, a two story lovely home, proper education, and she lives in town with her mother, grandparents, and stepfather. She is also beautiful. Woodrow, on the other hand, lives in a scarcely populated holler outside of town with only his lonely mother and his coal mining father. They are poor, living in a one room shack with no indoor plumbing, and Woodrow often wears hand-me-downs from his father or uncle. He is also cross eyed. The two are an unlikely pair of friends.

However, when Woodrow moves in, Gypsy finds that the two of them, despite their differences, have a lot in common...