Okay for Now

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2011

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Gardens/Flowers

Gardens and flowers appear frequently as a symbol in this book. From the opening section in which Doug’s mother is forced to break up and leave her garden to the beautiful orchid Mr. Ballard gives Lil, it’s clear that gardens and flowers hold a special place in the lives of the Swietecks and the citizens of Marysville. The flowers are symbolic of beauty and balance.

For example, when Doug’s father tells Doug’s mother that she can’t bring her carefully potted plants with them on their move to Marysville, she distributes them to the neighbors. The diced-up garden seems to represent the lack of balance in their family’s lives as this moment, but the redistribution to grateful neighbors also calls to mind the beauty still present in their lives.

The daisies Lil brings from her mother to Doug’s mother, and which they plant together, once again brings these two concepts to mind. The intimacy between Lil and Doug when they plant them t could certainly be seen as indicative of the beauty permeating their lives at that moment. As Doug says, “it means something, ya know, when people plant things together” (61). When Christopher spits on the daisies, however, this is indicative of imbalance, since there are still several unbalanced power dynamics ruling their lives at this point.

Later in the story, several orchids show up. Mr. Ballard gives both Doug’s mother and Lil an orchid from his office. Once again, the orchids seem to be Mr. Ballard’s way of reassuring his mother and Lil that despite the tumultuousness nature of their lives, beauty and balance remain within their grasp. Lil’s father is also pictured as crying behind a whole row of orchids when Lil gets ill. It’s as if he has done everything he could to surround himself in balance and beauty, hoping to not lose himself to the grief he feels over his daughter.

Towards the end of the narrative, Doug’s mother’s neighbors all donate a plant or flower to help her re-start her garden. This comes at a point where everyone in the family is beginning to recover from cycles of alcoholism and abuse. Just as the garden was torn apart at the beginning of the novel, it is repaired at the end, suggesting balance is restored.

Glasses With a Chain

Many of the characters in this story suffer from the ability to see things clearly, often having their personal prejudice get in the way. For example, Doug’s gym teacher and Lucas, it’s hard to see the world outside of the veil of Vietnam. For Mrs. Windermere, it’s hard to see the world outside of the one happening in her mind and in art; and for Mr. Spicer, it’s hard to see the world in terms outside of what is best for his deli. Therefore, it’s no surprise that glasses linked with a chain becomes one of the most important symbols of this book.

Three characters are noted for wearing their glasses on a chain: Mr. Ferris, Mr. Powell, and Mrs. Merriman. Doug is bothered by the presence of the chain but can’t pinpoint why. An analysis of the characters who have this type of eyewear shows that the chain is representative of a prejudice or privilege holding them back from seeing things as they truly are.

The first thing Doug notices about the librarian Mrs. Merriman is that she has “glasses on a chain looped around her neck—[…] already had them looped around her neck even though she wasn’t even in the library yet” (33). She then belittles him for his appearance, proving that some mix of prejudice and privilege is keeping her from seeing who Doug really is: an abused child. Mrs. Merriman continues to stay “looped” in her glasses throughout the novel as consistently as she remains rude to Doug (33). However, the one time that Mrs. Merriman “took off her looped glasses” is the one time she was vulnerable and able to at least see Lucas for what he is: a brave and wounded soldier (257).

The first time Doug meets Mr. Ferris he has “dark glasses on a chain looped around his neck” (100). However, he doesn’t keep the chain on long, proving that, though he has some privileges and prejudices as an educated adult, he still is often able to make things out as they really are. Mr. Powell also wore glasses with a chain around his neck until Doug “told him how dumb that looks” (115). Mr. Powell also comes from an educated background but quickly comes to see Doug for what he truly is, a talented, undernourished kid.

Birds

In this novel, every chapter is named after a bird, so it’s clear right away that birds are symbolically significant to this narrative. The birds end up representing a multitude of things to Doug, allowing him to make better sense of his life by seeing how it is reflected in nature. Doug starts becoming obsessed with birds when he sees a drawing of an Arctic Tern at the library. After this initial encounter, he spends the rest of the book fascinated by the different birds Audubon drew.

In the bird drawings, Doug sees different aspects of himself and those around him. For example, in the drawing of the Red Throated Divers at Mrs. Windermere’s, he sees his own mother and himself as making up the drama of the image. He sees the Arctic Tern’s “terrified eye” all around him, in his brothers as well as in his father (217). He sees himself and Lil in the Fork-tailed Petrels. The birds help him understand how grand the plane of possibility is for him. He often imagines himself as the Arctic Tern, as The Great Esquimaux Curlew, and as the Yellow Shank. Through their various worlds, he sees the possibility in his own.

The birds also help him solve his problems and give him direction. What Doug first perceived as the Arctic Tern “falling” later came to be seen as purposeful flight (37). Also, what he initially took as the Brown Pelican’s inability to move, later comes to be understood as “noble” determination (120). He applies these ideas to his life to help him behave better and not lose self-esteem. The novel ends on Doug and Lil imagining themselves as birds, trying to fight her lethal illness with the determined “beating of strong wings” (360).