Journey

Journey is an important theme in the novel “Whistling Past the Graveyard” by Susan Crandall. In novels, journeys are far more than merely travel or physical destination, but are about what is learned and experienced along the way. This often leads to a character coming of age, growing in moral quality, or coming to a new stance on events, situations, or beliefs. In the novel, the journey undertaken is by Starla.

When the novel begins, Starla is a typical 9-year-old white girl living in the American South. She is very much a child who believes she is suffering unduly at the hands of a strict grandmother. She has little interest or care for events going on around her, and has even naturally absorbed some of the racial tendencies of her family, friends, and neighbors. This is apparent when Starla attempts to exert her influence as a...