65 pages • 2 hours read
Patricia MacLachlanSarah, Plain and Tall
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1985A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaSymbols & Motifs
Singing
Songs are an important form of expression used to communicate history, convey emotions, and bond communally. When the novel opens, Caleb Whiting is sad that their family no longer sings, which for him represents bonding, contentment, and security. Though he does not feel his mother’s death the same way Papa and Anna Whiting do, Caleb recognizes that the cessation of singing signifies that something is wrong in their house. Caleb desires healing for his family, so he longs to know when he will be comforted by song once again. Anna likewise mourns the absence of music in their household, writing to Sarah Wheaton with only one question: whether she sings. Sarah’s affirmative reply gives Anna hope that Sarah might make her family whole again.
Caleb is the first to bring song back into the house after picking flowers with Anna and Sarah, her presence and her willingness to spend time with the children sparking joy in Caleb and moving him to sing. Sarah also teaches the children an old folk song about the coming of summer. The song represents a part of Sarah’s New England culture and builds a connection with the children as they learn the words and its meaning. Though the song is old, it is new to Caleb and Anna, returning the delight of music into their home in a way that illustrates The Beauty of New Beginnings. The final lines of the novel underscore that Sarah’s arrival has brought song and all its associations back to the Whitings’ lives: Anna’s hopes for the family’s future with Sarah include “songs, old ones and new” (58).
The Sea
Sarah’s home in Maine is vastly different from the prairie where the Whiting family lives. From her first communication with the children, Sarah speaks of her great love for the sea—particularly its colors—and when she arrives at the Whiting family farm, she is stunned by the profoundly different landscape. The sea therefore initially represents the cultural and geographic gap between Sarah’s life and the Whitings’. They cannot comprehend her seaside childhood, enveloped in the moody greens, grays, and blues of the ocean. Meanwhile, she tries to understand their life on the flat green, brown, and yellow pastures. In bringing a sea stone and snail for the children with her from Maine, she shares a part of herself with them. However, from the way she talks about her home near the sea, it is clear she misses it deeply.
As Sarah settles into life with the Whitings, the sea comes to symbolize her past. She keeps seashells on the windowsill, and hearing the sound they make reminds Sarah of home: “Then Sarah listened once more, with a look so sad and far away that Caleb leaned against me” (22). However, Sarah also teaches the children to listen to the shells, again indicating that she wants to share her past with them. Sarah similarly relates to the children that her first word was “dune” and talks about sliding down the dunes with her brother. At first, the children fear her nostalgia for her seaside home will pull her away from them, but the more she discusses her love of the sea with them, the more it becomes a shared interest and closes the gap between them.
Furthermore, the longer Sarah stays, the more she finds similarities between the sea and the prairie, helping her develop an affection for the new landscape. In the end, the sea symbolizes Sarah’s resilience and sense of adventure. She chooses to leave her adored ocean vista and commit to an experience with an uncertain outcome. By purchasing the sea-colored pencils, which she declares will belong to everyone, Sarah acknowledges that her love for the sea will never leave her but signals her intention to stay with the family.
The Yellow Bonnet
A bonnet is a hat for women that ties under the chin. Usually made of a mixture of straw and fabric, the traditional head covering kept the sun off a lady’s face, covered her hair, and in some cases served as a fashionable complement to her gown. Bonnets were an essential part of a 19th-century woman’s wardrobe, and women often wore them in public.
Sara first mentions her bonnet in her letter to the Whitings: “I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet” (15). As the means by which the family identifies her, the bonnet comes to symbolize the hope of her presence in their life. The bonnet’s bright color not only sets Sarah apart visually (particularly paired with her height) but suggests her uniqueness and her sunny disposition. The cheerful color also contrasts with the somber ocean hues she loves: “My favorite colors are the colors of the sea, blue and gray and green, depending on the weather” (11). When she first arrives at the Whitings’ home, Caleb sees her bonnet first, and the sight overjoys him. The scene repeats in the final chapter when the children fear Sarah has left them only to see her returning. By the end of the novel, the bonnet transforms into a symbol of hope and security for the children, its presence indicating Sarah’s commitment to remain with the family.
Bonnets also surface briefly when the children are collecting flowers with Sarah. Among the flowers they find is one called “Bride’s Bonnet.” The allusion to weddings makes Caleb smile and foreshadows that Sarah may wear another bonnet when she becomes Jacob Whiting’s bride.
