58 pages • 1 hour read
Jacqueline DaviesThe Bell Bandit
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Impact of Aging and Memory Loss on Families
Aging is a normal part of life but does not come without challenges. Memory loss, however, is not always an expected part of aging, and it can pose significant hardship to both the patient and their loved ones. Jessie and Evan Treski learn about those hardships as they navigate their grandmother’s memory loss in The Bell Bandit. As young people, Evan and Jessie have not had to encounter people with memory loss, especially someone close to them, and the siblings face different challenges associated with Grandma’s condition. Through navigating these challenges, Evan and Jessie learn coping strategies to continue connecting with their grandma. They also learn the important lesson that aging and memory loss cause significant changes in families, but love often remains.
Evan’s biggest struggle with Grandma’s memory loss is that she frequently forgets him but remembers Jessie and Mrs. Treski. Evan’s feelings are hurt even though he understands Grandma isn’t being intentionally hurtful. However, this challenge allows Evan to learn a valuable skill in working with someone with memory loss. The moments Grandma does not remember Evan cause her fear and confusion. Evan approaches these episodes from a place of empathy and understanding rather than trying to convince her of the truth in her moment of fear: “The truth made no sense as long as Grandma didn’t know who he was. [...] He tried to imagine what it must feel like to be his grandmother right now” (75). By putting himself in his grandma’s shoes, Evan can better approach her and get them both safely home on multiple occasions.
His ability to empathize with Grandma’s feelings of fear and confusion, even though he has not experienced memory loss himself, enables him to better support Jessie. When Grandma has an episode of forgetting Jessie’s identity, Evan can reassure his sister: “Somewhere in her brain she knows exactly who you are. She just can’t reach it right now. It’s like my bedroom at Grandma’s house. It’s still there. We just can’t get to it for a while. [...] But she’ll remember you again” (148). His experiences with Grandma, helping her navigate her moments of confusion by working with them rather than against them, help Evan see that Grandma is still herself.
The effects of Grandma’s memory loss on Jessie center around the profound change she experiences in her sense of stability and tradition. Jessie relies on the yearly trip to Grandma’s house at New Year’s to engage in a familiar ritual that puts her at ease and helps her feel connected to those around her. Due to her youth, Jessie struggles more than Evan to understand the nuances of Grandma’s memory loss. When the bell goes missing, Jessie conflates her grandma’s memory struggles with the missing bell: “Maybe there was something about the bell being gone that made Grandma forget. [...] If the bell were back where it belonged, the way it had always been, would Grandma be better?” (84). This quote illustrates Jessie’s simplistic understanding of memory loss and the methods she wants to use to fix it. Jessie wants to go back to the way things were before, not realizing that even if she finds the bell, Grandma will not go back to the way she once was.
As Jessie’s understanding of Grandma’s memory loss grows, she loses aspects of her innocence. For much of the text, Jessie believes that Grandma is pretending not to remember events or Evan. When they find her in the tepee after she goes missing, Jessie grows angry when Grandma, in a state of confusion, explains that she is waiting for the bus: “Stop it. Stop pretending. It isn’t funny” (147). Evan must help Jessie understand that the changes in Grandma are irreversible: “She’s tired [...] and she’s old. This is how it is now. We have to get used to it” (147). In explaining that Grandma’s changes are real and permanent, Evan ushers in a new stage of development for Jessie: she must acclimate to the new reality as she grows up and releases immature notions. This growth is not without emotional distress, but Jessie can navigate the changes with support from Evan.
There are practical aspects of the impact of aging and memory loss on families. Susan Treski, Grandma’s daughter, must make tough decisions about insurance after the fire and whether Grandma can still live independently. There is also the sense that Grandma does not want to lose her autonomy. In her moments of clarity, Grandma grows easily frustrated when others see her as incapable or unequipped to take care of herself. After Evan tells her that she should be resting instead of going for a walk, she responds, “I’m not four, Evan. I know when I’m tired, and I know when I’m not” (88). Grandma’s frustrations at limits on her freedom are valid and complicate her family’s legitimate concern for her safety.
The end of the text does not bring a clear resolution for the Treskis, illustrating how caring for an aging family member with memory loss does follow a linear path. Evan tells Pete at the bell-ringing ceremony that they plan to take Grandma home with them “Maybe for good” (169). No one can predict how Grandma’s condition will evolve, so the future for Grandma and her loved ones is uncertain. The Treskis have found a temporary solution and have learned through their experiences in The Bell Bandit that there are some practical ways they can help manage Grandma’s symptoms. They also learn that while Grandma is very different in some ways, she is “just different than she was” (152), but she’s still their grandma. This is an important reminder that memory loss is a set of symptoms that can affect a person’s behavior, choices, and memories, but they remain themselves, just different.
The Importance of Traditions and Community in Creating a Sense of Belonging
Traditions play a significant role in cultivating community, which in turn creates a sense of belonging for members of the community. In The Bell Bandit, the characters experience a sense of belonging by participating in the community and its traditions. Through their adventures in the text, Jessie and Evan learn that community forms through connection with others and not solely on tradition alone.
When the Treskis arrive at Grandma’s house, they find that the damage from the fire is more extensive than expected. Pete, a young man from town, arrives at the house and informs them that he will be working on the repairs. Pete takes an interest in involving Evan in the project and, in doing so, forms a bond with Evan that helps Evan find a sense of purpose and community. Evan’s father is absent, and Evan does not have a strong male presence in his life. Through connecting with Pete, Evan learns to be a better, more helpful member of his family.
One example is when Evan’s mother asks him to take Grandma on a walk, ending his workday with Pete sooner than Evan would like. Evan protests once but stops when he “caught sight of Pete’s face looking right back at him. Pete didn’t need to say a word. He just shook his head once, and Evan knew that was that” (68). Pete teaches Evan responsibility and how to put aside his own feelings when more important tasks, such as caring for others, arise. At the end of the text, Evan has internalized Pete’s lessons: he looks at the wooden frame of the bell and notices its weathered look: “Tomorrow, he would come up here with a sanding block and work on the wood until it was smooth, just the way Pete had taught him” (166). Pete has taught him practical skills, how to do a job well, and how to prioritize caring for others.
Jessie also gains a sense of belonging from traditions and community. The bell ringing at New Year’s is critical to her sense of belonging, and Jessie grows distraught when she finds the bell missing. Throughout the text, Jessie struggles as familiar people and routines change. She notes this feeling from the moment they begin driving toward Grandma’s house, as Jessie finds herself sitting alone in the backseat of the car while Evan sits up front, listening to music “like he wasn’t even in the car with her” (2). For Jessie, participating in the bell-ringing tradition helps her feel connected to those around her. Jessie also associates Grandma’s memory loss with the missing bell, wondering whether “If the bell were back where it belonged, the way it had always been, would Grandma be better?” (84). In this quote, Jessie suggests that tradition has the power to stall or prevent change.
While tradition certainly helps aid in a sense of community, sometimes breaking that tradition fosters deeper relationships. Grandma illustrates this idea at the end of the text when she alters the bell-ringing custom. Jessie at first feels uncomfortable breaking with tradition: “Grandma, we can’t all ring the bell [...] it’s not the tradition!” (171). Grandma assures her that she cares more about connecting with them than she does about stringently following tradition. In doing so, Grandma invites a wider circle into the tradition, creating a stronger sense of connection and belonging among them. Grandma understands that a community can alter or expand its traditions to continue evolving and growing.
Empathy and Understanding as Key to Navigating Life’s Challenges
In The Bell Bandit, Evan and Jessie confront difficult life lessons and learn that empathy and understanding are key to successfully navigating challenges. Jessie learns through her friendship with Maxwell that understanding someone’s differences is key to having empathy for them. Evan struggles with his grandma’s memory loss and the fact that she does not recognize him. Through his interactions with her, he learns that having empathy for her condition helps him connect with her.
Early in the text, Jessie befriends her grandma’s young neighbor, Maxwell. Maxwell is highly intelligent, but his lack of certain social skills causes friction between him and Jessie. Maxwell exhibits traits of neurodivergence: he frequently repeats himself and stims, often making a lot of noise. His behavior frustrates Jessie because she does not understand it: “‘You keep saying that [...] Stop repeating yourself. And sit down, for Pete’s sake. You’re making a lot of noise.’ Sometimes Maxwell could be very distracting” (96). Jessie can sense that something is different about Maxwell, but because she does not understand it, she characterizes him as distracting or annoying. Their friendship reaches a turning point when Maxwell and Jessie witness the Sinclair brothers torturing a live frog. This scene upsets Maxwell so thoroughly that he throws a rock through their barn window, shattering it before running away, screaming. Through this, Jessie realizes that there must be a reason Maxwell experiences this extreme reaction.
At the end of the text, Jessie asks Maxwell’s mother, “What’s wrong with Maxwell?” (159) and learns a valuable lesson: nothing is inherently “wrong” with Maxwell, but he does see the world differently due to his neurodivergence: “He feels the world in a different way, too. [...] even though Maxwell is incredibly smart, there are some things he has trouble understanding. Like feelings. He has a really hard time understanding feelings” (159). This realization is important for Jessie because she also struggles to understand feelings. With this knowledge about Maxwell, Jessie is better able to approach him and understand his motivations for hiding the fact that he had the bell the entire time: “You said it was a puzzle. You said you like to solve puzzles by yourself. I thought you wanted to figure it out on your own” (163). Rather than allowing Maxwell’s actions to become the catalyst for an argument, Jessie recalls: “It was just like his mother had said: Maxwell was different” (164). This perspective allows her to look past Maxwell’s unintentional deception and see things from his point of view.
Evan’s work to navigate life’s difficulties through empathy and understanding occurs in his relationship with Grandma. Due to her memory loss, Grandma does not remember Evan although she recognizes Mrs. Treski and (usually) Jessie. Being forgotten hurts Evan and causes him to lash out when Jessie states, “You don’t just forget someone in your family. That’s not possible” (83). Evan retorts: “You can talk to her. She remembers you” (83). Although Evan is upset that his grandma does not remember him, he uses his skills in empathy and understanding to help support Grandma throughout the text.
This empathy is key to Evan’s ability to navigate challenging moments with Grandma, such as when she forgets who he is as dusk falls at the top of Lovell’s Hill. At first, Evan tries to remind Grandma of his identity, but she grows increasingly confused and frightened. Suddenly, Evan realizes he needs to change tactics and meet his grandma where she is: “The truth made no sense as long as Grandma didn’t know who he was. He tried to think. He tried to imagine what it must feel like to be his grandmother right now” (75). Instead of trying to convince Grandma of his identity, he tells her that Mrs. Treski sent him to help her get home safely. This approach comforts Grandma and enables Evan to get her home safely. Evan successfully supports Grandma because he navigates her episodes of confusion with understanding and empathy rather than trying to correct her. Evan knows that unlike fixing Grandma’s house, which has a straightforward and fixable process, he must be empathetic and flexible in his approach to helping Grandma.
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