Winnie Foster

Winnie Foster, a character from the exciting novel “Tuck Everlasting”, written by Natalie Babbitt, is a young girl who goes on a thrilling adventure.

Character Summary

Winnie Foster is a young girl living in the wooded town of Treegap. She lives with her mother, father, and grandmother in a small cottage all alone in their forest. She is tired of being cooped up in her tiny front yard, and of following orders from her family. But one day, something out of the ordinary happens. She has finally decided to run away from home, feeling lack of freedom, and ventures into the dark forest at the break of dawn. After ambling around for some time she stumbles into a clearing and finds a teenage boy drinking out of a spring, just sitting there. Startled, the boy quickly wipes away any trace of him drinking, and starts making a conversation with Winnie. Puzzled and curious, Winnie talks to this strange boy, and asks if she can have a drink of the spring to quench her thirst, but is quickly forbidden by the young man named Jesse. Soon later, Jesse’s mother and older brother, Miles, come riding into the clearing and find Jesse standing with young Winnie. They are astonished, but instantly realize what has happened. As quick as lightning they kidnap her, while reassuring her that they are not bad people, but it’s the only way to make her understand. They take her on a long ride through the forest, but take a rest stop at a nearby lake. While resting and enjoying the beautiful countryside, Winnie feels scared and excited. The Tuck family then tells her their story. They were just an ordinary family passing through Treegap when they came upon the spring. They all took a drink from this odd spring thinking that it would do nothing to them, and then marked their initials into a nearby tree to show that they had been there. Many years later mysterious things started happening. The Tucks grew older as time passed away, but they never aged, and Miles’ small family moved away without him, in fear that his family was performing black magic. Their suspicions grew as things happened to them that would kill a person, but they lived without any pain. Then they moved into their small cottage in the forest and had been living there for more than 80 years. Winnie thought this was an untruthful story, and that the Tucks were mad, but at the same time, she believed it with all her heart. The Tucks told all their stories to Winnie, feeling happy that they finally could let the truth go. While this was happening, they had no idea that the man in the yellow suit was eavesdropping on them, and that he was an evil genius in disguise. After their stop at the pond, they keep going through the forest until they reach the Tucks beautiful little cottage tucked away deep in the woods. After Winnie is welcomed, and the afternoon goes by, the Tucks have a delicious dinner of flapjacks, bacon, bread, and applesauce, eating with their fingers. After dinner, Angus Tuck takes Winnie out on the pond in the rowboat. While on the pond, Angus tells Winnie about his life, and how he feels about living forever. When Winnie and Angus return to the house, they find that their horse is missing, which is bad news for them. Then Winnie goes to bed, but stays up most of the night, uncomfortable and puzzled. The next morning, Winnie wakes up early and goes fishing with Miles. On the pond, Miles tells Winnie about his life, and his family. After Winnie and Miles are done fishing they go back to the cottage and had flapjacks for breakfast. Shortly after, the evil man in the yellow suit comes to the Tucks house and tells them that he knows their secret, and that he wants them to be a part of his advertisement for selling the spring water, one of his evil plans. The Tucks quickly refuse, but then see Winnie being taken away in their place. Full of anger, Mae takes her shotgun and hits the man sharply across the head, leaving him unconscious. The Treegap constable arrived just in time to see all of this, and harshly insisted that he take Winnie back home, and that Mae is taken to jail, and maybe even the gallows for what she had done. Winnie and Mae were taken away from their fearing family, and the constable took Winnie back to her home to her anxious parents. The constable tells the Fosters all about the Tucks and what happened. Winnie spent the rest of the afternoon thinking hard, and finally made the decision that she would help Mae escape from prison. That night at midnight, Winnie, Jesse, Miles, and Angus set off to free Mae. When they got to the prison, they unbolted the windows to Mae’s cell, got her out, and left just as Winnie was getting back into the cell to take her place. The next morning, Winnie was discovered by the constable and was taken home again. She had to lie about the Tucks to her parents, but felt good that she had helped them. The next day she was outside playing with a toad that she had found, when a hungry dog approached. She quickly poured the everlasting water from the spring out of a bottle that Jesse had given to her, giving the toad everlasting life as well as safety. Winnie Foster lived a long and happy life of 78 years.

Characteristics

  1. Brave- Winnie is brave because she courageously helps Mae escape from prison.
  2. Caring- Winnie is caring because she gladly saves the toad by giving him the water that was meant for her.
  3. Adventurous- Winnie is adventurous because she steps up and runs away from home and meets Jesse.

Appearance

  1. In the book, Winnie has dark blond hair (the book doesn’t show or tell you a description of Winnie).
  2. In Tuck Everlasting (2002 film), Winnie has pretty brown hair, light skin, and dazzling blue eyes.

Likes

  1. Winnie likes having her freedom.
  2. Winnie likes spending time with people and animals.
  3. Winnie likes helping others.

Dislikes

  1. Winnie doesn’t like being cooped up inside and following orders.
  2. Winnie doesn’t like being alone all the time

References

Babbitt,N. (1975). Tuck Everlasting. Harrisonburg, VA: Square Fish