What drives Winnie to the woods in Tuck Everlasting?

At the beginning of the novel, ten-year-old Winifred (Winnie) Foster is quite frustrated with her mother and grandmother, who seem to hover over her every move. At one point, she states she wishes she had a different name; one that was not so worn out from being called on all the time. Living in the "touch-me-not-cottage", the nicest home in Treegap, Winnie has not yet sensed freedom from over overbearing family.
As a result, Winnie chooses to run away. Although, she quickly becomes fearful of that plan, as she has never been away from home on her own. So, instead, Winnie decides just venturing into the woods might be a better plan. The woods were her family's after all. This is what draws Winnie into the woods - a sense of freedom; but a "safer" freedom than running away altogether.


For Winnie Foster, the woods represent a rare taste of freedom. She is an only child and feels like she is constantly being monitored by her parents. She feels stifled, and she wants nothing more than just to be herself. The woods hint at a world beyond, a world of freedom and opportunity for adventure which she can explore at leisure, far from the prying eyes of her overprotective parents. How she envies the toad and his freedom! Sick of being ordered about by her mother and grandma she makes an important decision: she is going to run off to the woods and escape.
Although still only a child, Winnie does not feel she should be treated like a little kid. However, that is precisely how she is treated at home. That is why the woods look so inviting. There, she can finally be herself, just like the toad can be true to his nature too. There is a portentousness to Winnie's desire to be a grown-up. Over the course of the story, she will be faced with many situations that force her to grow up very quickly indeed. Ironically, for reasons that will become clear as the story unfolds, this will take place in an environment in which the people she meets, for a very strange reason, are unable to grow in the way that she does.

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