Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Miss Volker idolizes Eleanor Roosevelt, and her hyperbolic acclaim for the first lady turns Eleanor into a symbolic deity. Miss Volker refers to Eleanor as “[their] town’s esteemed founder” (40). Later, she claims, “Mrs. Roosevelt was the godmother and a great one she was” (232). Aside from allegedly creating Norvelt, Eleanor, by herself, advocated for decent housing and helped secure the place of a Black family. Miss Volker leaves out Franklin D. Roosevelt and Milburn Wilson, and the omission reinforces the image of Eleanor as an icon who willed Norvelt into existence through her exceptional generosity and compassion. The story is powerful and inspiring, but it’s not entirely true. While Eleanor advocated for Norvelt and the town renamed itself in her honor, she was not entirely responsible for its creation. Despite this, Miss Volker idealizes her, turning her into a god-like figure.

Jack is a sensitive character, and his nosebleeds are a recurring motif that symbolizes his keen awareness of the world and develops Confronting Death and Violence. Jack explains,

When Dad’s old Chevy truck backfired I showered blood across the sidewalk. When I fell off the pony and landed on my butt my nose spewed blood down over my chest.