Ramona and Her Father

“She was used to being called a pest.”

The other side of Ramona’s personality is often a troublemaker, and Ramona is used to her sister retaliating when she starts arguments. Ramona irritates her sister on purpose and, in turn, comes to view Beezus as a sort of antagonist in her life. Ramona is also no stranger to being lectured for the consequences of her sometimes shortsighted decisions.

“Ramona felt sad and somehow lonely, as if she were left out of something important, because her family was in trouble and there was nothing she could do to help.”

Ramona starts Facing Adult Issues as a Child when her father is laid off and everyone starts pitching in to help the family. Despite only being seven years old, Ramona feels an equal responsibility to contribute to The Support of the Family Unit. She shows courage and selflessness as she prioritizes her family’s happiness and health.

“She did not want her father to be worried, her mother sad, or her sister cross. She wanted her whole family, including Picky-picky, to be happy.”

Ramona has a stereotypical idea of what happiness is, in part because she is so young and in part because it has never been explained to her differently. When she sees her family experiencing distress, she thinks that they must not be happy anymore and starts to wonder if the family will fall apart. In truth, happiness comes from being together, not from monetary wealth.

“Maybe she could earn a million dollars like that boy so her father would be fun again.”

Ramona gets grandiose ideas about earning lots of money to help her family. She doesn’t understand the long and grueling process required to become a commercial actor, but she attempts to improve her skills anyway. Ramona also wants her father to be “fun” again, signifying Ramona’s concern over her father’s mental state and how it is affecting their relationship as father and daughter.

“Feeling dainty, curly-haired, and adorable, Ramona skipped into her classroom, and what did she see but Mrs. Rogers with wrinkles around her ankles.”

Ramona starts playing the role of a child in a commercial and starts to feel like a different person. After seeing a commercial where a young girl points out wrinkles in her mother’s pantyhose, Ramona says the same thing to her teacher. It is a moment that illustrates Ramona’s confidence and total lack of social anxiety or propriety, which can be considered both positive traits and flaws at the same time.

“Ramona considered. Was this a question grown-ups asked just to be asking a question, or did her mother expect an answer?”

At seven years old, Ramona is just learning to understand the nature of more complicated forms of communication like sarcasm and rhetorical questions. The questions running through Ramona’s mind are both accurate to the experience of someone her age, as well as filled with humor as she tries to determine whether her mother was asking her a real question or not.

“I don’t care how much that kid or any other kid earns. I wouldn’t trade you for a million dollars.”

Mr. Quimby sees his daughter’s efforts to change herself so she can become an actor and decides to put a stop to it by reassuring Ramona of how special and loved she is. Mr. Quimby lets Ramona know that she is loved, flaws and all, and that she need not pretend to be someone she is not. This conversation is foundational in Ramona’s journey of Discovering One’s Inner Strength.

“Ramona could tell by the sound of her father’s voice that he was smiling.”

Ramona knows her family well. They are a deeply connected unit who are together as often as possible. Part of the support of a family unit is this unspoken and irreplaceable knowledge that only family members can have of one another. Additionally, this scene represents a shift in mood, however temporary it may be.

“Didn’t grown-ups think children worried about anything but jack-o-lanterns? Didn’t they know children worried about grown-ups?”

Ramona feels patronized by her parents, who assume her problems are superficial and revolve around presents and pumpkins. In truth, Ramona is dealing with adult issues that are largely outside her control, like the health risks involved in smoking. This quote also speaks to Cleary’s overarching philosophy of her writing, which revolved around the idea that children need a voice and to be understood and represented as they are.

“Reluctantly Ramona brought the ashtray and, with her face rigid with disapproval, watched her father light his after-breakfast cigarette.”

Ramona recently learned that smoking comes with serious health risks and now takes on the challenge and burden of helping her father quit. Ramona is full of gumption and persistence, and she continues to emphasize her new position on smoking as much as possible. Ramona also effectively becomes the parent in these interactions, as she lectures and supervises her father the same way he would usually do for her.

“Ramona made up her mind, right then and there in the middle of arithmetic, that she was going to save her father’s life.”

Ramona has grandiose ideas at times, but sometimes, these grandiose ideas turn out to be achievable after all. Ramona’s efforts to help her father quit smoking do not go unnoticed, and her sense of resolve is most evident in the way she persists despite all of the setbacks and challenges of quitting smoking.

“Ramona was filled with fresh courage. She had allies. Her father had better watch out.”

Mrs. Quimby and Beezus approve of Ramona’s efforts to help Mr. Quimby quit smoking. With information circling the country about the dangers of both smoking and second-hand smoke, Mr. Quimby is pressured by his family into quitting. For Mr. Quimby, quitting meant relying on the support of the family unit but also on his own inner strength.

“Ramona scowled and slid down in her chair. Nothing was ever fair for second graders. […] Nobody ever paid any attention to second graders except to scold them.”

Like many young children, Ramona feels unseen and unheard in her life, which is primarily composed of people much older than her. Ramona’s initial efforts to get her father to quit smoking do not succeed, as he actively ignores the signs and lecturing from his daughter. Mr. Quimby’s decision to quit smoking is not only the right decision for his health, but it is also a grand gesture in showing Ramona that her opinions are worth listening to.

“Ramona was frightened. Tears filled her eyes as she sat down on the cold concrete steps to think. Where could her father be?”

When Ramona’s father isn’t at home after school, Ramona starts thinking of the worst. After weeks and months of stress building up both within and around her, Ramona breaks down. The thought of losing her father, whether to smoking or because he simply disappeared, is too much for Ramona to bear. She comes to the realization that she loves her father whether he smokes or not, though she still wants him to quit.

“He reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a package of cigarettes, looked at it a moment, and tossed it onto the counter. Ramona had never seen her father do this before. Could it be…”

Ramona observes a significant change in her father’s attitude toward smoking. After family tensions lead Ramona to become upset and after weeks of pressure from the family, Mr. Quimby finally makes the decision to at least attempt to quit. Ramona is so connected to her father that she recognizes this change before he ever says anything; she can see a difference in his pattern of behavior.

“First the left foot, then the right foot. Clank, clank. They worked!”

Cleary uses onomatopoeia (words that make the sound they describe) to add realism and bring in the auditory senses as Ramona and Howie play with their tin can stilts. It is a moment of levity in Ramona’s life and a welcome break from the tense, rarely fun atmosphere at home.

“Filled with a proud feeling that they had accomplished something big, they jumped off their stilts and ran home with their coffee cans banging and clashing behind them.”

Ramona and Howie spend the day on their stilts, singing and staying out past dark. Ramona is lectured for being late and singing a song about beer, but none of this affects her brightened spirits. The whole day was a cathartic event for Ramona, who has been facing adult issues for months and is now coming to discover her own inner strength.

“No family is perfect. Get that idea out of your head. And nobody is perfect either. All we can do is work at it. And we do.”

Ramona wishes for a happy family and is told that she already has one. It had never occurred to her before that happiness didn’t mean constant joviality, but instead referred more to the support of the family unit and how having such a strong support system to rely on means that family members can remain strong and in good spirits even through difficult times.

“Ramona decided her father was probably right, but she couldn’t help feeling they would be a happier family if her mother could find time to sew that sheep costume.”

While Ramona is beginning to understand deeper wisdom, she is still seven years old and her priorities remain that of a young child. Ramona places a great deal of importance on the sheep costume and doesn’t grasp the fact that her mother simply doesn’t have the time or energy to sew it.

“Rain blew against the car, headlights shone on the pavement, the windshield wipers splip-splopped.”

Cleary invents onomatopoeia to describe the sound of the windshield wipers as they swoop across the car’s windshield on a rainy night. The rain also sets the mood for Ramona’s stubbornness and sulking period, which she only overcomes through her own strength and determination.

“The sight of light shining through the stained-glass window of the big stone church diverted Ramona for a moment. The window looked beautiful, as if it were made of jewels.”

Imagery is used infrequently in Ramona and Her Father, so when it appears, it is used with intentionality and purpose. Seeing the beauty of the church foreshadows Ramona’s immersion in the moment later on in the evening when she finally lets go of her disappointment and decides to enjoy the evening for what it is.

“She had told her father she would not be a sheep, and she couldn’t back down now.”

Ramona is stubborn at times, and while this can be a positive trait when it comes to things like helping her father quit smoking, it acts as her downfall when it prevents her from participating or admitting she was wrong. Ramona has to work through these emotions on her own, without the help of her family or friends, and it becomes a moment of discovering one’s inner strength.

“I’m really a nice person. It’s just that nobody understands.”

Ramona feels misunderstood by her family, who see her as a misbehaving child who often makes mistakes. While Mr. Quimby assured Ramona before that he loves her despite these flaws, Ramona would prefer to both be loved and have her parents be proud of her. She dislikes the way she acts when she is stubborn or upset and makes a conscious choice to let it go.