Galadriel Gilly Hopkins along her journey from angry and unloved foster child to caring young adult. Paterson paints a vivid,
warts and all picture of a smart, big-hearted girl who resorts to her
imagination to find the love and security that she lacks in reality.
The Great Gilly Hopkins has stirred some controversy in its time, particularly for its language. The themes of race and religion are also treated in this book, though not in ways that students will necessarily notice or wants to discuss Paterson treats them seriously but subtly, without fanfare or melodrama. The more
important theme of the book is Gilly’s path to finding love and peace with her life, and Paterson invests exceptional care and tenderness in that theme. Paterson refers to several children’s television shows of the 1970s and the movie 2001 important cultural markets for the era. Understanding the social and cultural context of the book is not crucial to understanding of the book itself.
The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson plays with the idea of image: hoe people appear, what masks they out on, both intentionally and unintentionally. Gilly is especially concerned with image: she plans her action and attempts to manage other’s reactions to her. Paterson makes it clear that Gilly’s image does not often reflect her true self and those others see past her façade.
Paterson also relies on vivid imagery to bring Gilly to life. Gilly has a fertile imagination and a flair for words: Paterson uses clever and vibrant similes and metaphors to convey Gilley’s feelings.
In The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson shows us how Gilly creates an image for herself to suit her needs at any given time. Gilly isn’t comfortable just being herself, so she tries to make others pay attention to her image rather than her true self. She also builds images of other people in her mind.
This book made me think about how important families are. Gilly is a foster child and did not have a family. Not having a family made Gilly have some bad qualities.
In the beginning of the book, Gilly is being sent to a new foster home. Later in the book, Gilly tries to find her mother but does not succeed. At the end of the book, Gilly meets her mother, but the meeting is a disappointment.
The Great Gilly Hopkins is a great book for all ages.