44 pages • 1 hour read
Bryan ChickThe Secret Zoo
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Megan’s Diary Entries
The diary pages are a symbol for experiential learning and the limitations of learning from others’ written accounts. While reading about how others experience something that helps, Noah takes his newfound commitment to the Secret Zoo seriously because he found it himself and made his path there; Megan started his journey, but he did it himself. This commitment to doing better, being better, and learning through experience plays into one of the novel’s more significant themes—The Need to Conserve Nature.
Megan’s diary is also an important motif that helps drive the narrative action, particularly in the opening stages of the novel. They first appear in the novel’s Prologue, where she uses the diary to complete a brainstorming session because “she’d learned about brainstorming—scribbling down ideas as quickly as possible. Her teacher had said that it was a way to make sense of something that was difficult to figure out” (5). She uses her diary to record her zoo explorations and identify all the bizarre incidents she encounters there. When Noah finds her diary through the animals in the zoo, he only recovers three pages that guide him to Podgy the Penguin, who gets him into the Secret Zoo. However, each diary entry only contains partial information that is key to the mystery and suspense structure; Noah only receives some information Megan discovers before he finds the Secret Zoo and Mr. Darby.
Podgy the Penguin
Podgy is a sidekick character archetype to Noah and symbolizes the determination to overcome the seemingly impossible through the power of belief. Even when the world believes Podgy can’t fly, Noah believes in him, and Podgy overcomes what everyone else thinks. When Noah and the Adventure Scouts say goodbye to their friends, “Noah notice[s] that for the first time, the penguin [doesn’t] look sad and bored. Light gleam[s] in his eyes” (238). Podgy not only overcomes the impossible, but he also becomes a happier, more authentic version of himself. He accomplishes this, Mr. Darby explains, because of “the strength of his spirit” (238). Podgy collectively symbolizes the ability to overcome challenges through strength of heart and belief that one can overcome obstacles rather than accepting the limits others place on oneself. He works hard to keep up with Noah and Blizzard, even when he cannot move as fast as either. He demonstrates determination and a willingness to face overwhelming challenges to get what he wants and to overcome his limitations.
The Adventure Scouts’ Distress Flag
The distress flag plays a significant role in the book, occurring at two crucial times. The flag symbolizes asking for help when facing challenges. In both moments a character displays the distress flag, they are in a situation of danger and need assistance. This is the usual purpose of a distress flag, but the flag takes on a symbolic meaning in the novel because of the thematic and narrative focus on asking for help as a character development lesson.
When Noah flies the flag at the novel's beginning, he’s hoping someone can help him find Megan; when Megan raises it at the end, she asks for Noah’s help to escape the Dark Lands and return home. In both instances, neither character can move forward without help. They need to rely on others to guide and assist them. Though Noah does not realize it, he receives the help he asked for through the zoo animals, leading him to Mr. Darby. Megan also receives help from a zoo animal—Podgy—while she and Noah escape. Neither character would have received the help they needed without the flag, and the symbol builds a moral that the readers should be willing to ask for help when facing challenges they cannot overcome alone.
