Summery of Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver Essay

The novel begins narrated from the view of a man named Homero, who is also known as ‘Doc Homer’. In the brief chapter he remembers watching his two daughters, sleeping when they were younger. With their mother dead, Homero has had to raise them on his own since they were a young age. The story develops a dual narrative voice, with the second chapter narrated by Codi, the elder daughter who in the present, is in her thirties. Hallie, the younger sister, withdraws from the home she shares with Codi and Carlo in Tucson Arizona, determined to assist the brand-new communist government with crop production in Nicaragua. Codi also departs from Tucson to return to her rustic hometown of Grace, where Doc Homer has developed Alzheimers in his old†¦show more content†¦The older woman of town a.k.a ‘The Stitch and Bitch Club’, take action by going to Tucson selling homemade pià ±atas using feathers of the local peacocks. Codi joins the group and soon involves her classes, as she becomes extremely enthusiastic on the subject. On Christmas, while Codi is visiting Loyd’s family at the Pueblo of Santa Rosalia, Doc Homer gets a call stating that a group that includes Hallie have been abducted by the Contras. Codi develops deep depression and for the next few months eagerly awaits a phone call to tell her that her sister is safe. Unfortunately Codi eventually receives a call that Hallie’s body was found on the side of a road with her hands tied up and a bullet in her head, along with many other victims. She tries to inform Doc of these events but in his weak mental state is lost in his own mind and does not understand the news as he often sees Hallie and Codi as the little girls they once were. Meanwhile, the The Stitch and Bitch Club files a petition and the mine company finally announces that it is shutting down and will also clean up the river. Codi decides to leave Grace as she is extremely confused. After her plane is forced to turn around she gains courage and returns to Grace, where she ho lds a funeral for Hallie. Codi also informs Loyd about the child she miscarried in high school. At the end of the book we see that a year later Doc Homer has passed away, and Codi, still