Summary
"Friday"
On Friday morning, Tom Oakley talks to Mrs. Fletcher, expressing how much Willie has changed since he first arrived in Little Weirwold. He remarks happily that he saw Willie laugh for the first time. Mrs. Fletcher thinks to herself that Tom has also changed considerably, that he has become more kind.
Willie anxiously awaits his friends to come over. Zach arrives first. They go up to Willie’s room, which has been renovated to include his drawings on the wall and shelves for his belongings. The rest of the children arrive. Zach announces that Miss Thorne is putting together a children’s Christmas show for the war effort and needs help from as may kids as possible. Ginny says she can sew costumes. George protests at first, but then agrees to help. Zach says he will be one of the lead roles. Willie would like to paint the scenery. Carrie also agrees to participate.
George announces that there will be a carol service in the church on Christmas Eve. Carrie wants to join, but George tells her it is boys only, which angers her. Ginnie suggests that now that there is a war, maybe girls will have more opportunities. Zach is reluctant to participate because he’s Jewish, which shocks Willie. Willie volunteers to sing in the carol service.
Tom brings the children a snack and Zach remarks to Willie how lucky he is to have been placed with someone kind like Tom. The friends leave in a happy mood and Willie is also happy. Tom observes that the last of Willie’s sores is almost gone. That night, for the first time since he arrived at the Oakley household, Willie has not wet the bed.
“The Show Must Go On”
It is November and almost all of the evacuees have left the village, but Willie and Zach remain. Outside Little Weirwold, the war is escalating. Willie has gotten his reading to the level of Mrs. Hartridge’s class, but he still loves to hear bedtime stories from Tom each night. As Christmas is approaching, Miss Thorne is organizing the children’s play, which is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Willie has been helping paint the scenery for the play, but takes over as a prompter in order to replace someone. Through prompting, Willie begins to learn lines of the play by heart. In one moment, Miss Thorne asks him to stand in for Christine King, who plays the crone. Willie is able to get into the character through remembering the tramps in his old neighborhood. For Willie, it feels very natural to act.
Zach praises Willie on his acting abilities. The rehearsal “takes a lift” and the other children are emboldened to try out new techniques fearlessly. Everyone praises Willie and Lucy even tries to hold his hand. Willie doesn’t understand why everyone is impressed; to him he is just pretending to be a character.
Miss Thorne gets news that Robert and Christine King, evacuees, have also been sent back home. This poses a problem, as Robert was set to play Scrooge. Willie is chosen to replace Robert as Scrooge. They start rehearsing the play from the first scene. More news comes: Mr. Bush, a teacher at the school, has been called to army service.
Willie returns home and finds Tom in a quiet mood. Tom reveals that he has been asked to replace Mr. Bush as the organist and leader of the carol choir, something he has not done since Rachel died. Willie asks about Rachel, and Tom explains the death of his wife and son. Tom tells him that his son had the same name: William.
Analysis
In these sections, we witness Willie’s friend group start to solidify. In “Friday,” we can observe how supportive the friends are of each other, as demonstrated by how each one is willing to help out in the projects of the other, such as Zach’s play and George’s Christmas carols. Their kindness towards another is a reflection of the general community spirit of working together in unity at a time of war that we have seen throughout these previous chapters.
The inability for girls to take part in caroling speaks to a larger cultural attitude towards women at that time. Carrie’s anger comes from what she perceives to be an irrationally unfair state of affairs. Segregating the genders into different activities puts an unnecessary wedge between girls and boys, but was much more typical of this historical period. It is during World War II, however, that this inequality will begin to change, as Ginnie points out.
An interesting development comes when Tom speaks to Willie about the death of his wife Rachel and baby son. It is the first time Tom has told Willie about it. We learn that Tom’s son's name had been William. We can now understand why Tom often chooses to call Willie, William. For Tom, raising Willie is a way to connect to the son he was never allowed to see grow up. We can also infer that this is also why it has sometimes been so difficult for Tom to have a child around.
The chapter “The Show Must Go On” marks a moment when both Willie and Tom are really getting out of their comfort zones. For Willie, this means taking on the role of Scrooge in the school play. For Tom, it means replacing Mr. Bush as the organ player for the choir. Willie, through trying his hand at acting, discovers a latent talent. He is able to use his memories of London—feeling hungry, the tramps on the train—to enrich the character he plays.
Through creating these new opportunities for both characters, Magorian underscores how the relationship between Tom and Willie is allowing both characters to grow out of their accustomed behavior. In the beginning of “Friday,” Tom remarks to Mrs. Fletcher how much Willie has grown. “He’s changed quiet a bit in these last few weeks,” he says to her. In this moment, Mrs. Fletcher also observes that Tom has changed, transitioning away from the mask of the grumpy old man that he has worn for so long.
The dry mattress at the end of “Friday” symbolizes Willie’s progress. For the first time since arriving in his new home, Willie has not wet the bed. This change shows readers that Willie has gotten to the point of feeling at home with Tom Oakley. Furthermore, we learn that nearly all of Willie’s scars from his mother’s abuse have faded. Willie has truly begun a new chapter.
