Moo: A Novel

In this section, Reena and Luke become integrated into rural Maine life, fully realizing the theme of Growing Into a New Life. They reach new milestones in their relationships with Mrs. Falala and Zora, make new friends, and thoroughly enjoy the beauties of their new surroundings. These changes also demonstrate the value of their parents’ insistence that they work with Mrs. Falala, as the children acclimate to an extreme microcosm of isolated rural life.

“The Outfits” is a pivotal chapter and marks a significant change in the relationship among Reena, Luke, Mrs. Falala, and Zora. Mrs. Falala’s gift of the clothing symbolically marks her acceptance of Reena and Luke into the environment of her home, demonstrating that she takes them seriously as people who fit in. Both Luke and Reena are excited to have clothes that look so much like Beat and Zep’s clothing. They have reached a milestone in Growing Into a New Life, and their appreciation shows their growing understanding of The Rewards of Rural Life, as Reena notes that they never would’ve agreed to wear these clothes before moving to Maine. When Mrs. Falala sees Luke’s drawings, she gains a new respect for Luke’s individual abilities and places herself in the position of being his student. This curiosity shifts Mrs. Falala into a more positive mode: She seems childlike to Reena as she sits on the bale of hay concentrating on her drawing lesson, and the diction of Luke’s instructions to her mimics some of her earlier dialogue, demonstrating the power shift taking place. Mrs. Falala’s hidden loneliness becomes clearer, and, though Mrs. Falala may have wanted the children to work for her to show Zora, it is evident through her past as a shower of Grand Champions that this is an honorable task that she would not easily bestow. Mrs. Falala, a widow, seems to need the children around, as she has had only animals for company. Zep and Beat mention how difficult Mrs. Falala is, demonstrating her reputation as an isolated elderly woman. She is so set in her ways that she is reluctant to admit that Zora needs another cow for company, and she takes it personally when Reena insults Paulie the pig. Just as the children are learning to appreciate rural life, Mrs. Falala is learning to appreciate company and restructure her home and family structure.

Reena and Luke separate for the first time in “The Outfits,” when Reena goes off to the pasture to spend time with Zora, whom she finally befriends, and Luke stays behind, alone with Mrs. Falala. Luke begins to forget his fear of the elderly woman, and Reena begins to forget her fear of the enormous cow. Although the chapter immediately before this, “A Day Off,” demonstrates The Value of Companionship as the two siblings enjoy a “perfect Maine-y kind of day” together (116), their ability to separate in “The Outfits” shows that their growing confidence in their new environment makes it possible to successfully be apart, too. The task of working on the farm initially seemed impossibly beyond their comfort zones, but in making a genuine effort to learn about Mrs. Falala and their animals, the siblings learn that they are capable of much more than they think. This adaptability also foreshadows their futures as caretakers of Mrs. Falala’s property and animals, as they find true purpose on the farm.

In this section, Reena’s relationship with Zora grows, even when it seems to hit small setbacks. Reena learns to treat Zora as an individual with thoughts and feelings of her own, demonstrating The Importance of Respect. She makes an effort to show Zora that she wants to be friends, not just an animal and master. In this process, she realizes that Zora is lonely, and she dreams of having actual conversations with Zora in which she promises to find a way to help the isolated animal. Reena begins to see Zora as a source of comfort, as well. In her dreams, she enjoys the warmth of Zora’s body and the softness of her coat, and in her waking life, she begins to look forward to spending time with the ornery cow. She is even able to overcome her fear that Beat, Zep, and the owners of Birchmere will scoff at her concerns about Zora’s loneliness in order to speak to them on Zora’s behalf. Zora draws out Reena’s best qualities, and just as she acts as a protector of her brother, she seeks to protect Zora. The cow also helps to demonstrate the complexity of Reena’s emotions, which are also evident in her prose and poetry thought processes. Reena feels deeply, even closing her eyes because she is overcome by the abundance of natural beauty in Maine. Reena shows uncommon empathy in her eagerness to secure a friend for Zora, and where Luke’s emotions burst out in drawings, Reena’s emerge in language and the acts of empathy and protection.

The reintroduction of Beat and Zep’s characters in this section of the novel offers Reena new friendships that examine The Value of Companionship from the lens of non-family companions. She now has people her own age welcoming her into rural life and offering to coach her. It is after the first morning spent with these new friends that Reena realizes that Zora may be lonely and bored, living without any other cows, demonstrating Reena’s ability to connect emotionally with Zora. Reena grows progressively more confident in dealing with Zep and Beat because she is motivated by a desire to safeguard Zora, which parallels her initial courage in facing Mrs. Falala to protect Luke. In the earlier sections of the novel, the two teenagers seemed alien to her, and she was unable to even hold a conversation with them. In this section, she asks them for an important favor and brainstorms solutions to Zora’s loneliness with them, highlighting the growth of her character.

Reena continues to grow in her appreciation of Maine, as well. She celebrates the gentle pace of people out walking their dogs and eating at local lobster and ice cream stands in “A Day Off” and describes the beauty of the foggy harbor in “Fog.” In “Colors,” she shares the joy she feels when she sees the many flowers blooming alongside the roads, exclaiming “Maine,/ we love you” (141). Because Reena is a narrator who believes in portraying both the good and bad sides of things, she humorously juxtaposes the images of lovely flowers and the happiness they inspire with the irritating plague of tiny insects in the book’s next poem, “Bugs.” The overwhelming majority of chapters focus on Maine’s bucolic beauty, however, showing how deeply Reena has come to appreciate The Rewards of Rural Life.