Walls Within Walls

Brid is the Smithfork family’s middle child and serves as the novel’s sidekick character archetype to her older brother’s protagonist archetype. She often antagonizes her younger brother, Patrick, to hide her insecurity that she does not follow CJ’s example. In the novel’s Teamwork and Family Dynamics in Problem-Solving theme, Brid positions herself as a mediator for the Post family. She is the first to consider that Julian Post was not intentionally deceptive or malicious in his purposes, and she makes Eloise reconsider her late father’s actions.

As the sidekick archetype, her primary function within the plot is to support CJ, enhance his positive characteristics, and fill in gaps where he misses attributes. Her support often manifests as deceit, such as when she lies to Maricel about CJ’s location. Her choices create morally complex questions about Brid—some of her actions within her role as a sidekick are standardly ethically wrong; however, she has good intentions. Though her actions are flawed, her reasoning is sound, and through her character arc, Sherry poses a question: When is it acceptable to act against societal norms and values?

Patrick is the youngest Smithfork child and functions as the novel’s explorer archetype. Though dyslexic, Patrick’s disability is a minor piece of his overall role within the narrative arc, and it is an even small part of his character arc. Instead, Sherry focuses on Patrick’s attention to detail and resourcefulness. He is the only character to notice that the woman in the portrait behind the wall “has these funny words in her tears” (15). Without his attention to detail, in this instance and others, the treasure hunt would have failed because the Smithforks would not have gained the necessary problem-solving skills through teamwork and family dynamics—one of the novel’s primary themes. Patrick’s necessity in the Post family treasure hunt makes him a primary vehicle for the family and problem-solving theme. It gives him a position of authority when he often gets silenced because of his challenges.

Because of his attention to detail and his desire to please his siblings, Patrick positions himself as the explorer character archetype in the novel. Though he does not always seek out new places and adventures like other popular explorer archetypes, he wants his siblings to include him so that he can experience the world the way they get to. He gets put out when CJ and Brid wish to leave him behind because he feels sorrow that he cannot participate in the experiences. In a narrative about layering, Patrick acts as a relief from the layers by challenging their necessity. Rather than adding new layers of complexity the way each other character does, Patrick endeavors to remove layers; he wants to see the world through a simple lens, which he can do more quickly because of his young age, his mother’s affirmation that he sees the world differently than others, and his natural ability to look past extraneous information to know the importance of what is in front of him.

Eloise is the Smithfork family’s downstairs neighbor and functions as the novel’s sage character archetype. When the children first meet her, she uses a pseudonym to conceal her identity—a practice she does with everyone to avoid conversations about her family’s past. However, she also strives to hide from her past; she believes her father was a cruel man because of how he handled their inheritance, and she wants to distance herself from him as much as possible.

As she interacts with the Smithforks, she grows as a character. Her bitterness fades as she recognizes her father’s goals and ambitions for the inheritance quest. Her father’s poems instruct her about how Mr. Post hoped she would live her life, and she encourages the children to follow in the footsteps her dad wanted her to take. The guidance she provides positions her as the sage character archetype. Her wisdom goes beyond teaching the Smithforks to appreciate the hidden history around them, how to read poems for deeper meaning, and how to live as better people. While teaching them those valuable life skills, she also teaches them to dissect the world’s layers and see more profoundly than what appears on the surface—a lesson she must learn when confronting her long-lost brother.