Author's Note: this is a response to the novel Where the Heart Is
In the novel Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, the main character Novalee Nation is extremely superstitious about the number seven. The young girl had a bad history with the number, starting with her seventh birthday--the day when her mom ran away with a baseball umpire. In 7th grade, Novalee's only friend stole an ice cream truck and was sent away to a state school for girls. Then, after she had dropped out of school she began waitressing at a diner, and one night a regular customer went crazy. Novalee had tried to calm her down, but the woman stabbed her with a steak knife, and it took seventy-seven stitches to close up the wound on her arm.
The fact that sevens were unlucky for Novalee seems quite strange, because they are usually lucky for others and are used as good symbols in several instances. For example, in the bible, when God was creating the world, he rested on the seventh day because his work of creation was complete, entire, and perfect. Therefore the seventh day of the week, Sunday or the Sabbath, is a day of rest and peace. There are also several other occasions in the bible where patterns of sevens have been mentioned. The idea that the number is inauspicious for Novalee is very ironic, because of their normally fortunate implication.
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