52 pages • 1 hour read
Oliver ButterworthThe Enormous Egg
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1956A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Persistence in the Face of Adversity
The extraordinary circumstances that surround Uncle Beazley’s hatching necessarily create challenges, as Nate must cope with uncertainty, public scrutiny, and his own unmet expectations. Despite these examples of adversity, Nate persists, discovering a supportive community in his family and Dr. Ziemer and coming into his own as an individual.
This tension between persistence and adversity arrives in the very beginning of the novel, when Nate first discovers the egg and commits to its care. Though Nate describes his routine as an “awful chore” (9), he still rotates the egg several times a day, so that it might be evenly warmed. However, by the end of four weeks—long past the typical incubation period for a hen’s egg—nothing has changed. By this point, even Mom and Pop are urging Nate to give up, describing the egg as a “lost cause” (16) and suggesting that he donate it to a museum. Nate, however, refuses, deciding to “give that egg just one more week” (16). And even after that week has elapsed, Nate still refuses to give up, though his patience has begun to thin. Finally, at the end of six weeks, Uncle Beazley hatches, rewarding Nate for his persistence amidst troubling odds.
Inspired by his success, Nate similarly weathers other examples of adversity, from logistical challenges to local naysayers. For instance, when Uncle Beazley’s rapid growth strains the Twitchells’ food resources, Nate doesn’t give up, but instead mows an overgrown backlot to bulk up their grass supply. And when that fails, too, he follows Pop’s suggestion to coordinate with Henry Smith, whose tractor makes short work of the neighborhood lawns. This persistence extends, too, to challenges to Uncle Beazley’s legitimacy. For instance, when Joe Champigny insists Uncle Beazley is merely a lizard, Nate argues that “it’s no lizard, it’s a dinosaur” and rebuts Joe’s claim that scientists “made up all that business about dinosaurs out of their heads” (59). Tellingly, even though Joe is Nate’s best friend, his critical opinion hardly challenges Nate’s firmly held belief; instead, Nate sticks to his guns.
Eventually, this necessity of persistence culminates in Nate’s battle with Senator Granderson, whose Dinosaur Bill threatens Uncle Beazley’s safety. To gather support for his bill, Granderson delivers a rousing speech to the Senate, criticizing Uncle Beazley as both un-American and financially burdensome. Granderson represents power and influence, which Nate does not have. Since public speaking is Nate’s greatest fear, he must summon his courage to not only stand up to a powerful opponent, but also to conquer a personal fear. Nate succeeds in doing both, helped by Dr. Ziemer, who assures Nate that “we won’t give up till we have to” (157). Ultimately, Nate’s plea resonates across the country, and thousands of people advocate for Uncle Beazley’s safety. The David-and-Goliath structure of the plot emphasizes the power of persistence, hard work, and consistency.
Science as a Force of Change
Science is a major focus of the novel, as Nate and Dr. Ziemer realize Uncle Beazley’s relevance to its pursuit. The story demonstrates that science not only encourages changes in the environment, lifestyle, health, and general knowledge, but it also is susceptible to change itself, constantly being transformed by new research, theories, and opportunities.
Though change is positioned positively in the novel, it is also shown to be disruptive. This emerges in the novel’s beginning, when the Twitchells must consider Uncle Beazley’s threat to Freedom’s easy routine. Prior to Nate’s discovery of the egg, life in Freedom is simple. The Twitchells, too, are creatures of habit, predictable in their routines: Each day, after breakfast, Mom and Cynthia tidy the kitchen while Nate joins Pop in the print shop. When Uncle Beazley proves a valuable scientific discovery, Dr. Ziemer warns the family of his responsibility to alert his colleagues: “We scientists don’t like to keep secrets from each other” (43). Involving the scientific community means inviting chaos and unpredictability into Freedom, as Dr. Ziemer anticipates that the “scientific world is going to go crazy” (42). This tests the Twitchells’ ability to adapt, and they prove equal to the task. This demonstrates that while scientific discoveries may be destabilizing, people benefit from adapting to their new reality.
Nate’s interest in science encourages changes in his character, including a serious change in setting: Accompanied by Dr. Ziemer, Nate travels to Washington, DC. It’s the first time he’s been away from home without the supervision of Mom and Pop, and he’s soon greeted by a wealth of new opportunities. This scenario paints science as a vehicle for expanding people’s horizons and allowing them to encounter knowledge and experiences that are not part of their everyday lives.
As the novel progresses, science not only encourages change but is itself in constant flux, responsive to emerging research and interpretation. For instance, when Joe Champigny second-guesses Dr. Ziemer’s credentials, assuming that “scientists are supposed to know all the answers,” Dr. Ziemer is quick to correct him: “No, Joe, a scientist doesn’t know all the answers […] But a scientist keeps on trying to find the answers” (64). Science is not a fixed body of knowledge but a process of curiosity, experimentation, and revision. Nate realizes this, too, as he listens to a group of scientists discuss Uncle Beazley. According to Nate, each scientist has a different theory, and they argue to prove that a particular “theory was right and the others were all wrong” (87). With no clear consensus, here science seems less like an objective set of facts and more like a competition between competing ideas. The need to resolve this competition is how science achieves innovation: As Dr. Ziemer examines Uncle Beazley and amends his previous research, he’s able to offer the world a better understanding of dinosaurs and their habits. This emphasizes the novel’s message about the importance of gaining all the facts and making careful observations, rather than drawing conclusions based on guesses and hearsay, as many of the other characters do when they learn about Uncle Beazley.
Discovering Value Apart from Consumerism
Uncle Beazley’s hatching attracts a wealth of attention, and it’s not long before businessmen arrive in Freedom, hoping to co-opt Uncle Beazley for their financial interests. Recognizing the threat that consumerism poses to Uncle Beazley’s security, Nate thwarts its interests, arguing instead for the superior value of friendship, curiosity, and respect.
As Uncle Beazley continues to grow, the novel introduces an opposition between consumerism and science, suggesting the former poses a danger to Uncle Beazley. For instance, when Professor Morrison arrives from Montreal, he worries that American business interests might interfere with Uncle Beazley’s wellbeing: “I’m never sure what you Americans may do with valuable things like this,” he explains. “You’re all such super rich businessmen over here that I shouldn’t be at all surprised if you sold this animal to Hollywood” (91). This hyperbole illustrates the way other cultures might view American consumerism, especially as it relates to entertainment. Uncle Beazley has enormous entertainment value, which makes him even more valuable a commodity.
No one from Hollywood comes calling for Uncle Beazley. Rather, the prospective buyers come from ordinary businesses, showing that no one is immune to the lure of capitalism. One man runs a struggling gas station, another a whiskey company, and another a luggage company. Despite their disparate fields, each fixates on the wealth that Uncle Beazley can bring to his business. They not only use money to entice Nate to sell—offering him, in one example, “two hundred dollars a month” (97)—but aim to co-opt Uncle Beazley for their own financial gain. The whiskey salesman, for instance, hopes to cast Uncle Beazley in an elaborate advertising campaign, imagining that “we’ll make a fortune” (97) while the luggage salesman figures that dinosaur hide might attract a wider customer base. Each time, however, Nate doesn’t relent; to him, money is secondary to Uncle Beazley’s health and companionship. Nate is content with his life and recognizes Uncle Beazley’s intrinsic value; he does not want to monetize his pet, as others assume he does. Instead, he insists that “I just don’t want to sell him” (94).
This skepticism toward consumerism continues throughout the novel, peaking with Nate’s confrontation with Senator Granderson. Aiming to exterminate Uncle Beazley, Granderson ignores Uncle Beazley’s scientific value and reduces him instead to a matter of cost, arguing, for instance, that he’s a “needless expense to the American taxpayer” (152). To counter this, Nate appeals to other sources of value, explaining Uncle Beazley’s capacity for companionship. Nate’s plea is simple but effective, as he urges the American public to rise above consumerism: “I know [Uncle Beazley] eats a lot, […] but maybe he’s worth it, because he’s the only dinosaur we’ve got” (171). This is a metaphor for environmentalism, which the novel addresses indirectly. Uncle Beazley represents the Earth, which is exploitable for gain but has intrinsic value and requires protection, even at the cost of financial interests. When a crowd of well-wishers arrives at the National Zoo, they deliver a final blow to consumerist interests: Instead of labeling Uncle Beazley as a needless expense, they donate to the “Dinosaur Food Fund” (175). Sustained by the generosity of his community, Uncle Beazley emerges as a powerful representation of the value of empathy, respect for nature, and scientific advancement.
