Tuck Everlasting - Literary Essay Sample

Tuck Everlasting is an American novel for the children, which was written by Natalie Babbitt in 1975 and was published by Giroux, Farrar and Straus. The novel has an exploration of the concept of immortality. Although, it is not as attractive and desirable as it may be assumed to be. It is being referred to as the classic modern of literature for children as it is loved and many copies have been sold. It is a brand of fantasy and realism (Finn 2001).

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Angus Tuck is the character of the story that has been affected mostly by his nature of immortality. He often dreams about his family and him being in heaven and have actually lived their lives, rather than being able to live forever. He is envious of the man who wears the yellow suit as he is able to die and tells Winnie that he would give whatever it takes in order to be immortal. Other than that, he is a good man who looks for meaning in what he is doing and ensures that no one is drinking from the spring.

Mae Tuck is the mother in the immortal family. She loves Winnie sincerely. Although, she is sad that she wont ever die, just like her husband, although she accepted her fate and moved on with her life. She wears peculiar clothes and her house is not a tidy one. She is also strong as she kills a man in order to protect the entire world (Babbitt 1975).

Miles Tuck is the oldest son of Tuck and is the most levelheaded. He is both a blacksmith and a carpenter but was not contented with his job as he wanted something important to do forever. He got married before he actually knew he was immortal and when he knew, he lost his family due to fear of witchcraft. Eventually, he lives home in search of his goals (Barchers 2014).

Jesse Tuck is the youngest son who is most often impetuous. He is constantly travelling and doing whatever he likes like working in salons. He met Winnie first and fell in love with her. He prevents her from drinking the spring water, bearing in mind the consequences.

Winnie Foster is a little ten-year-old girl who is very wonderful. She gradually changes and grows up so first within the first week of August. She disobeys her parents and goes to the woods where she finds Jesse and the spring of immortality. However, she chooses to live a life that is normal.

The man in the yellow suit is the storys villain and is portrayed to be a reminiscent character of the devil. He is wicked and greedy and would destroy everything for his own gain. Deliberately, he is nameless as he is a representation of all the worlds evils and is a coward who cannot stand for what is right (Barchers 2014).

Tuck Everlasting is a story about a girl who is known as Winnie and a family which she meets known as the Tucks. Although, the Tucks have their own family secret, they are all immortal. Apparently, they drank from a spring which was a fountain of youth, without their knowledge. They were to stay that way until the end of time. Winnie, who ran away from their lavish home, into the woods to become independent and ran away from the strictness, met Jesse Tuck. Jesse fell in love with Winnie who shared the same feelings. Despite that fact, Miles, who is Jesses old brother, kidnaps Winnie. In the meantime, a man in a yellow suit who seemed very suspicious befriended the family of Winnie while she had gone away. The man in the yellow suit spies on the Tucks family and learns their secret. In turn, he desires the water from the spring so that he can be able to sell it for his financial gain, to the citizens. Mae Tuck, Jesses mother becomes aware of his intentions and he bats the man with the yellow suit, violently, with a riffles rear end. Luckily enough, the hit was colossal that the man actually dies immediately. The constables see the attack and are able to arrest Mae for his murder. Winnie is able to break the Tucks out of their jail cells but instead takes their place. The Tucks moved on to another area and they invited Winnie. Winnie is the forced to make a critical decision of whether she would live forever by drinking from the spring, or rather live an existence that is mortal. She decides that to be left behind. After a number of years, Jesse opts to return to the tree where the spring used to be and found revelations that Winnie chose never to drink from the spring (Babbitt 1975).

Tuck everlasting gives a loving, believable portrait of real people who are undergoing very difficult situations, which may also be fantastic. Winnie is not an anti-hero, neither is she an angel. She is a young girl who has her strengths and weaknesses too. She is good, basically, although not perfect. The Tucks family, come across a little more than just endearing, which are country bumpkins which are slightly mysterious but they realize at a glance, just like Winnie that to them it is much more than immediate apparent. The Tucks re unlettered and they have a lot to teach Winnie about life. The fact that the Tucks are offering Winnie immortality is problematic at the same time intriguing. Her decisions are impaired by the presence of the man with the yellow suit who has a desire that is very overwhelming to control the fountain of youth. Winnie made a wise decision not to drink from the fountain but according to Jesse, that is not what he wanted. He had left her a bottle of the spring water with hopes that Winnie would follow them while at an immortal state. It was unfair for Jesse as he was madly in love with Winnie and wanted to spend all of their endless lives together. The Tucks also really loved Winnie and they wanted her to be part of their immortal family and not being different from them. It shows that one should not fear death but instead, have fear for the life that has been unlived. One does not have to live forever; one has to just live (Stoodt 1996).

Tuck Everlasting is a novel which is poignant and exciting, powerful and intense and very creative both at the same time. With its easy to comprehend grammar, I would recommend this novel to any child who is able to read. This is simply because, it creates the imagination of the plot in mind and at the end of the novel, and it has a moral lesson about life and its values.

References

Babbitt, N. (1975). Tuck Everlasting. New York: Scholastic Professional

Books. Barchers, S. (2014). Tuck Everlasting Studying the Story Elements. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.

Finn, P. (2001). Literature circle guide: Tuck everlasting. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.

Stoodt, B. D., Amspaugh, L. B., & Hunt, J. (1996). Children's literature: Discovery for a lifetime. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia.