An obvious
symbol throughout the book is the bear that Lyddie stares down in chapter
1 and which she remembers often. Lyddie's encounter with the bear represents her ability to deal
successfully with challenges and danger.
Another interesting symbol occurs in
chapter 4. When Lyddie starts working at the tavern, she gets to know Tryphena, the cook. As
Lyddie churns butter one day, Tryphena tells her the story of two frogs who fell into the pail
of milk. One drowned immediately, but the other one kept kicking and kicking until it formed a
pat of butter on which it could float. Tryphena explains the symbolism of the story: "Some
folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter."
The first frog could represent Lyddie's mother, who gives up on life after her husband leaves
the family. The second frog represents Lyddie, who doesn't give up and works with all her might
to save her family's farm and to try to make a better life for herself and her
siblings.
The frog story brings to Lyddie's mind the private joke between
Lyddie and Charlie: "We can still hop." Their mother had written to them with her
incorrect spelling, meaning to say, "We can still hope," but instead writing, "We
can still hop." Lyddie's mother's approach, to hope vainly without "kicking,"
results in her drowning in her grief. But Lyddie, like the frog, can still hop. She kicks and
takes action, and that keeps her afloat until her life improves.
When
Charlie comes to visit Lyddie, she finds little to talk about. After he leaves, she wishes she
had told him about the frogs. Connecting Charlie with the frog story symbolizes that he, too,
will survive because, like Lyddie, he can still hop.
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