Snapdragon

The second part opens with the possum babies being released into the wild. The possums’ entry into a new world symbolizes Snap’s entry into the new world of magic. Previously, she did not believe in witches. When Snap sees the mama possum’s ghost, she is speechless, only able to say “Uh. Uh? Uh?!” (119) while gesturing with her arms. Jacks tells her she has “been sayin’ as much” (119). Jacks spoke about how she helped the roadkill “become something new” (62). At the time, it seemed like she was talking about their skeletons. Now, it becomes clear that her words had a double meaning: one on the level of reality and one on the level of magic. She helps bring peace to the animals’ spirits. The Intersection of Magic and Reality is closer than Snap previously believed.

One of the characteristics of the graphic novel is that the main characters are quick to correct their assumptions if they mistakenly judge or disbelieve others in moments of transition, be they gender transition or transitioning into the world of magic. Though Lulu momentarily thinks Snap is teasing her when she tells her about seeing animal ghosts, she quickly comes around when Snap tells the story of how One-Eyed Tom came to look over her family. The revelation that One-Eyed Tom was her family’s protector reveals how even Snap, who accepted Jacks and Lulu without question, sometimes misjudges others based on first impressions.

Because One-Eyed Tom was in the form of a predatory animal and showed up when her family members were alone or in trouble, Snap believed that One-Eyed Tom was haunting them. Her family assumed he was malevolent because he was not an entity they recognized. When she learns magic is real, Snap also learns that One-Eyed Tom is linked to Jacks. Even though Jacks and Jessie broke up, Jacks is still watching out for Jessie and her family with the eye she gave to One-Eyed Tom. Like the town misunderstands Jacks and thinks she is malevolent, Snap misunderstood One-Eyed Tom. Understanding the magical process by which One-Eyed Tom came to guard Snap’s family changes her perspective on One-Eyed Tom. Snap realizes One-Eyed Tom stopped Jessie’s car before she drove over a cliff she couldn’t see. She now understands the misjudgments she made about One-Eyed Tom. She was alienating him based on his differences like others did to her, complicating The Social Effect of Being Perceived As Different.

Snap continues to make misjudgments about the nature of magic. She wants the classic props associated with witches: hats, brooms, and wands. Jacks has negative associations with these things, as they are related to stereotypes and the social malignment of witches. Jacks thinks these props are junk that distract from the real uses of magic. Snap doesn’t understand why Jacks feels that way: She knows Jacks was kicked out from her parents for being different, but Snap is still young, and so she doesn’t understand the complex trauma people deal with in adulthood if rejected in their youth. Jacks wants both her and Snap to steer clear of props that might contribute to societal judgement and rejection. At the same time, Jacks doesn’t understand that Snap has different associations with those props than she does. Jacks sees them as symbols of stereotype, but Snap thinks they are cool. This misunderstanding persists as Snap struggles to learn magic.

The disappointment Snap feels as she struggles to cast magic is compounded by the emotional hurt she feels from being bullied for being different. Lulu’s brothers call Snap Lulu’s “weird girlfriend,” while the bullies call her “Snotty” and tell Lulu that she “caught freak” from Snap. When Snap sees the possum ghost, she thinks that she may have found the reason she’s different. She thinks that being a witch would have explained “why [she] feel[s] so different! Why [she doesn’t] fit in!” (161). Lulu doesn’t see being different as a bad thing or something to change. Lulu thinks Snap’s differences make her a kinder and more empathetic friend than others. Snap wants to find something to explain away a part of her identity to her, but Lulu embraces that same part of her.

Though Snap doesn’t verbalize it, after she casts magic with her wand, she worries that Jacks will reject her for approaching magic differently than she does. After Snap makes Lulu’s hair grow, Lulu is excited about Snap telling Jacks, but on page 167, Snap is illustrated looking askance with a worried expression, and a dialogue bubble that denotes her silence. Subliminally, she fears that Jacks will do to her what Jacks’s parents did to Jacks.