87 pages • 2 hours read
Alabama Moon
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Themes
Empathy and Responsiveness for Others
Much of Moon’s dynamic character development rests on his arc of empathy and responsiveness for others. Initially, Moon is a young boy who does not really demonstrate empathy for others because he grew up in an environment that required more focus on skills, instincts, and arduous work. In his interior monologue, he tells his memories of Pap’s accident in a procedural tone. He wonders only briefly if the injury hurts and does not react strongly to the sight of the broken bone because his hunting and butchering skills desensitized him over time: “Seeing bone and blood and wounds was nothing to me. I dealt with them almost every day killing, skinning, and butchering animals” (17). He does try to use a light hand when he attempts to clean the wound for Pap, but as Pap refuses to allow Moon to fetch help from outside sources like Mr. Abroscotto, Moon mostly tries to stick to their routine of checking traps and dealing with caught game.
Moon’s ability to empathize is uncertain while at Pinson as well. He initiates trading places with Hal when Hal is “sentenced” to sleeping out in the cold, but whether Moon has Hal’s feelings in mind is debatable. He explains both in interior monologue and to Hal that he feels ill and trapped: “I just don’t feel good […] It’s nothin’ to me to sleep on the ground. I’d rather be outside than in there. I think it’ll make me feel better” (91). Additionally, when the young boys weep and express a desire to return to Pinson, Moon is clueless as to why they are worried or fearful; he cannot think it through from their perspective: “I don’t know what’s wrong with everybody […] I thought they were ready to go with us” (108).
Moon starts to show empathy when he realizes how uncomfortable Hal and Kit might be on the trail. He takes care to slow his pace and make a more easily traversable path for them when he begins to worry that they might question the plan or want to leave; Moon’s mind turns to ways to keep them happy. He promises better food and shelter, reflecting his life with Pap: he seeks to make them happy through better survival techniques and outcomes, the only way he knew to gain approval before Pap passed away. When Hal makes his decision to leave, Moon says he can understand the need for a father. When Kit asks for medicine, Moon drops all other needs and produces an aspirin-like powder for Kit. Neither that nor other remedies work for Kit, though, so Moon sacrifices their camp and risks being caught to take Kit to safety. He knows he will be all alone again, but his sense of empathy and responsiveness to others’ needs prompts him to try to save Kit.
Wisdom, Learning, and Knowledge
As a 10-year-old boy who never learned in a formal educational setting or organized societal structure, Moon is a study in various kinds of wisdom and knowledge. Moon is a highly capable learner, from marksmanship to reading to survival skills. Moon knows how to butcher a deer in such a way as to produce everything from glue to clothing as well as meat, how to fashion his own bow and arrows, and how to read the stars for directions. He is literate, but as he tells his new teacher at Pinson, “Pap said he didn’t know a lick about math. I can add and subtract, but I don’t know division or multiply tables” (85).
In juxtaposition to his attainment of skills, Moon enters society without any basic interpersonal knowledge or experience in functioning in the face of conflict. When threatened, Moon opts for a “fight or flight” response—often, first fight, then flee. This is illustrated in Moon’s physical attack of Mr. Abroscotto the day after Pap dies when Mr. Abroscotto suggests ideas Moon does not like, and after he kicks and hits Mr. Abroscotto, he runs away. Moon also attacks Mr. Gene after throwing up in his car on the way to Pinson and reacts physically to Hal when Hal threatens him.
Moon does not really fathom the concept of supervision by older authority figures; he does not even know enough to lie or keep secret his plan to “bust out” of Pinson to Mr. Gene, Mr. Carter, and Mrs. Crutcher. Moon becomes aware of his ignorance when it comes to rules: “How do you learn what the rules are? I haven’t meant to so anything wrong ever since Pap died, and people are chasin’ me all over” (233). It takes an extended journey and difficult coming-of-age process for Moon to learn how to get along in a society and world governed by rules and acceptable behaviors. Eventually Moon shows progress; he no longer resorts to immediate physical attacks, and he learns from Mr. Wellington how to behave before Judge Mackin. Most importantly, he learns from others that while Pap was a serious and intent teacher of the skills and knowledge he conveyed to Moon, those skills and learned content do not mean that Moon must reject learning about human interaction.
“Freedom” Versus Friendship
Part of Moon’s internal conflict and a struggle that contributes to the growth of his character is the dichotomy between the kind of freedom sought by Pap and the friendships Moon eventually comes to enjoy and favor. Pap’s character symbolizes a “freedom” in which a person lives unbeholden to anyone except perhaps a spouse and children. He especially wanted no association with nor reliance upon the government, the law, or society in general. Pap thought one must have the skills to survive a war and crumbling government for real freedom and survival; those who rely on authority are “not gonna be able to take care of themselves” (18) the way he and Moon will.
Pap also eschewed friends and family members after serving in the Vietnam War, perhaps because his traumatic experiences there included the painful loss of friends; remaining free of friends is one way to avoid the pain of losing them. Uncle Mike tells Moon late in the story that Oliver was his “best friend growin’ up” (287), but that because of the war, “he saw a lot of friends die over there. Maybe he didn’t want any more friends” (287).
Though Pap tries to instill within Moon the same desire for a freedom that leaves behind not only personal friendships, but the fellowship between members of a governed society, Moon learns true friendship once he meets Kit and Hal. He eventually determines that living alone is not worth the “freedom” it brings if one is lonely. Moon daydreams about splitting the difference: Someday he and Hal will have the comfort and security of a house-like structure set deep in the woods, where they can hunt, fish, trap, and shoot without being scolded or bothered by anyone. He realizes that Hal has that lifestyle already—at least briefly, until he is sent to Hellenweiler. Given the choice of isolation, Moon now thinks even an institution might be preferable: “Then I spoke words that I never thought I’d head coming from my mouth. ‘If I have to be all by myself, maybe I’d rather go to Hellenweiler with you’” (209).
Later, Moon resurrects the idea of living in a remote place with Kit away from society. Kit is eager to run with the fantasy, as he enjoyed every second of the freedom he experienced in the woods with Moon. Moon soon sees, though, that this dream is too distant; waiting Kit to escape the system is both unbearable and unrealistic. Moon learns that having both friendships and the kind of freedom Pap idolized is not possible for him. Moon’s resolution and coming-of-age progression result from his new acceptance of closeness to family and friends from within a structured life with supervision and guardians.
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