Beverly, Right Here

“What happens with kids is you want to protect them, and you can’t figure out how to do it, and it drives you crazy. It drives you right out of your head. It keeps you up nights.”

Mr. Denby’s anxious tone reveals his challenges Facing the Cruel but Kind World. The world gave Mr. Denby kids he loves, and because he loves them, he frets about protecting them from an unfeeling society.

“Her mother answered on the first ring. She didn’t sound too drunk.”

Beverly’s summation of her mom reflects her blunt outlook. She doesn’t use gentle language. Her assessment that her mom “didn’t sound too drunk” implies that there have been times her mother did sound “too drunk.” Her mom battles alcoholism and has exposed Beverly to her challenges.

“‘[Y]ou’re good at backing up.’

‘I’m good at going forward, too.’”

The dialogue delivers humor, with Iola compliments Beverly for going in reverse, and Beverly informing Iola that she can drive the car forward. The funny irony is that people often have to drive cars forward; they can’t only drive backward.

“And Beverly was here. In Tamaray Beach. In a crooked little house by a crooked little sea.”

Beverly grapples with accepting the imperfections of the world. Flaws don’t deny comfort, and Beverly finds a secure home in Iola’s “crooked little” trailer home.

“I’m modeling underwear, but the underwear job will lead to modeling clothing, and the clothes-modeling job will lead to Hollywood once a movie director sees me in a magazine.”

Freddie’s dreams of going from modeling to movie star don’t work out. Thus, unrealistic dreams can be limiting, but living in reality can be endlessly freeing.

“[I]t was all a loud, blurry dream. But in a way, it was good because none of it left any room in Beverly’s head for anything else.”

Busing tables creates a positive absence. Instead of dwelling on her worries, Beverly gets a break because her mind is filled with benign noise.

“Them’s the rules. It’s a law, on account of gambling. Handed out by the government. And I ain’t defying the government.”

Ralph solemnly explains why Beverly must be 18 to play bingo. His serious tone creates ironic humor, turning the bingo game into an adult vice.

“Nobody watches out for you in this world.”

Doris is the bridge between the cruelty and kindness of the world. Freddie takes advantage of Beverly with the tips, but Doris, subverting her statement, “watches out” for Beverly, and Beverly gets her fair share of the tips.

“She didn’t want to ride a horse to nowhere; she wasn’t going to let herself get fooled.”

The metal horse kiddie ride outside Zoom City complicates the theme of absence versus presence. It’s always there—it’s not going anywhere. Part of what makes presence meaningful is the inevitable absence.

“Come on inside and let me make you a tuna melt […] It will be fine. Everything will be fine.”

The tuna melt symbolizes bonding. After Maureen’s odious visit, Iola uses the tuna melt to reaffirm her connection to Beverly.

“I like her. I like anybody who doesn’t claim to know the answers.”

There aren’t solutions for all the cruelty in the world, and Mr. Larksong praises Beverly for not acting as if every problem has a fix. He also links Beverly to angels, who don’t always communicate answers clearly or at all.

“It’s a cartoon. To make the truth more accessible. I drew it myself. Under divine guidance.”

Mrs. Deely presents herself as a figurative angel. Like an angel, she claims she’s transmitting God’s truth. As Mrs. Deely’s cartoons are scary, the truth can be frightening.

“Just because you can’t stand to think about something don’t mean it ain’t happening, that it ain’t true. People wait on other people. People rely on other people.”

Iola brings together Facing the Cruel but Kind World and The Need for Connection. Beverly doesn’t want to confront how she might cause Iola pain, but their connection means Iola cares for Beverly and vice-versa: They need each other.

“She wanted to destroy something. She wanted to sit down in the empty parking lot and cry. Instead, she went down to the beach. She stood and stared at the big indifferent ocean.”

Beverly can’t find an outlet for her intense anger over Jerome’s brutal bullying of Elmer. Once again, cruelty doesn’t come with a tidy solution.

“[Beverly] thought about how everyone lied to little kids without even thinking that they were lying.”

Concerning children, people are not helpful angels. They don’t provide them with truthful guidance—instead, they frequently mislead.

“It’s August. How can they have Christmas in July in August?”

Beverly’s question has multiple layers of comedic irony. The first twist is that Christmas is in December, not July. The second twist is that the Christmas in July party occurs in August.

“[N]ow, there’s three. Three of us. That’s good. I like it when the numbers go up instead of down, don’t you?”

The tuna melt dinner unites Elmer, Beverly, and Iola, and Iola expresses her need for further connection. She wants more people at her tiny kitchen table, not fewer.

“I miss everyone!”

Beverly reveals her need for connection with this hyperbolic (extra dramatic) exclamation. She doesn’t miss some people or a few—she misses everyone. She has strong feelings, and she gets attached to others.

“‘Do not take that fan.’ ‘Right.’”

Mr. Denby sheepishly obeys Doris’s command. Though Mr. Denby is her boss, Doris bosses him around, and the role reversal represents a funny twist or comedic irony.

“I ain’t learned a thing. Not one thing. Except that there ain’t nothing in this world that can’t happen.”

The World War I veteran’s repetition is misleading. He has “learned a thing”—in the real world, anything is possible. His words echo a comment Elmer makes at the beginning of Chapter 29 when he tells Beverly to go home and graduate. He says, “All kinds of things happen that you don’t think could ever happen” (186). Both characters remind Beverly in various ways that little in life is predetermined; she has the power to change her circumstances.

“‘Here is your Beverly.’ ‘I’m not his Beverly.’”

The exchange between Iola and Beverly links Beverly to a common element of feminism. Beverly doesn’t belong to Elmer. She’s not his—she’s an autonomous, empowered young woman.

“‘Five p.m. Mr. C’s stays closed again today.’ ‘Oh, no, please.’”

The topsy-turvy relationship between Doris and Mr. Denby continues. She calls the shots, closing the restaurant for another day so they can enjoy their Christmas feast.

“[I]t will always have the crease, I suppose. But it’s yours, and you should keep it, honey.”

Iola notes what Beverly did to Elmer’s drawing of her. Like the picture, Beverly’s life is flawed, but it’s her own. Thus, the portrait of Beverly contains truth.