I
want me a whole gallona ice cream.
In Chapter 22,
Jefferson expresses to Grant a wish to eat vanilla ice cream. This
statement marks the first step of Jefferson’s recovery. Jefferson
has spent the first half of this novel in a daze, asking for nothing
and hardly speaking. He has expressed no personal desire, allowing
people to feed him and move him around as if he is the animal his
lawyer called him. With this simple desire for ice cream, he begins
to act like a human again by expressing desire and personality.
Jefferson’s request also illustrates the beginnings of his realization
of self-worth. Jefferson says he never had the opportunity to eat a
filling portion of ice cream in the past. Now, for the first time,
he does not wordlessly accept his meager portion, but says he would like
a larger share. Although here he talks about food, this desire for more
will soon spread to include a desire for more respect.