Pictures of Hollis Woods

Pictures of Hollis Woods

Imagine a girl that was discovered at the side of a road in a box only a few months old. There was a piece of paper in the box that said, “Call me Hollis Woods.” This is what happened to the main character in Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff. She is an orphan and is always running away from her foster families within a few months, and she never really gets attached to anybody. This is almost a routine for Hollis, get a new foster family, stay for a little, then run away only to repeat the process, with the exception of one summer when she stayed with the Regans. She started to think that this might be the one, and then something tragic occurred. But this all of her running away and loneliness changes when she gets sent to Izzy, an older lady starting to lose her memory, but still loving and caring for her.
To begin with, even though this isn’t an appropriate life, it is the normal life for Hollis. Therefore this story is a comedy. Because there isn’t death or death symbolism or chaos in this story, the mode of literature is either a comedy or a romance. Pictures of Hollis Woods is not unrealistic, so the mode of literature is a comedy. Another reason why this story isn’t a romance is because it isn’t a perfect world at the beginning of the story.
Secondly, there are quite a few symbols in this book. One is the wood figure that Izzy is carving for Hollis that looks like Hollis. This is a symbol because it symbolizes their growing relationship, as they get to know each other better, the closer to completion the figure gets. Another distinct symbol is the mountain that Hollis keeps referring back to when she thinks about her time with the Regans. This mountain is a symbol because it illustrates the feeling of success after a time of struggle. And that is exactly what Hollis is going through, a time of struggle, hopefully to end in triumph and victory. One last symbol is the pictures that Hollis draws. Her drawings are spectacles of times throughout her life, both congenial and atrocious.
There is a superb lesson to be learned from Pictures of Hollis Woods. The lesson is that know matter how bad your life is, it can still turn around and come good. This is exactly what happened to Hollis. Her life was pretty awful because she kept running away from foster parents and she kept getting sent to new ones. Then her life started to turn around for the better when she got sent to Izzy. She really enjoyed Izzy because they had a lot in common, like art and ways of doing things. And when she met up with Steve from her summer home, her life all at once became the best it had been. So if you think your life sucks, don’t give up on it, and continue to deal with it, because you never know when it’s going to turn for the better.
As you can see, lives can change quite a bit in a few months. And Hollis is a perfect example of this. Going from orphan to a loving and caring family is a big change in life style, but a good one. And now everyone is happy. And happy endings are good endings.