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51 pages 1 hour read

Ann Brashares

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2001

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Symbols & Motifs

The Traveling Pants

The titular traveling pants are the novel’s central symbol. An ordinary pair of blue jeans that somehow fit each member of the friend group, they symbolize “the promise [they] made to one another, that no matter what happens, [they] stick together” (10). Before leaving for their first summer apart, the girls take “the vow of the Pants,” (32) pledging to maintain their bond and be there for one another even from afar.

When the girls are apart, sending the pants back and forth helps them feel connected to one another. Each girl wears the pants at moments when they need a boost of courage; for example, Carmen wears them to the dinner where she plans to confront her family, while Lena wears them to the forge on the day that she kisses Kostos. Though the narrative imbues the pants with symbolic power, their real power comes from the fact that they represent the friendship that they all share and act as a physical reminder of their shared support. In Chapter 24, Lena says that “[t]he Pants mysteriously [hold] the attributes of her three best friends” (171). Each girl draws on the positive qualities of her friends when she wears the pants.

At the end of the narrative, the girls come together after a summer that has changed each of them. Though they’ve learned to function as individuals while apart, the presence of the pants provides reassurance that their friendship will persist as they continue to grow up and go their own ways.

Tibby’s “Suckumentary”

The evolution of Tibby’s film project throughout the narrative mirrors her maturation as a person. At the start of the novel, Tibby is a cynical and judgmental person. She resents being stuck at home working customer service while her friends jet off to exciting new locations. She plans to make a film she dubs a “suckumentary,” which will satirize her summer. The film will include mocking footage of Tibby’s coworkers, whom she perceives as beneath her.

After Bailey joins Tibby in working on the project, the film’s tone changes. Bailey steps in to conduct interviews with several of Tibby’s Wallman’s co-workers. Her gregarious personality brings out the best in people that Tibby has written off as losers. Under Bailey’s direction, interviews that Tibby intended to mock their subjects are transformed into compassionate portraits of their individuality. The suckumentary is a representation of Tibby’s growing empathy and open-mindedness toward those around her. When she meets Bailey, she is initially judgmental, but soon finds out she is a great friend and is secretly very sick. As Tibby considers life’s shortness and the hidden reality beneath the surface of those she meets, she begins to understand that she must extend empathy toward others instead of assuming the worst. While Tibby never had malicious intentions in her treatment of others, she grows into a much kinder and more accepting person with Bailey’s guidance.

In Chapter 24, Tibby notes that her suckumentary “isn’t how I expected” (126). It’s no longer comedic. Instead, it’s evolved into a genuine passion project, representing Tibby’s evolution into a kinder person with a more positive worldview.

Death

Except for Carmen, each of the girls’ lives are colored to various degrees by experiences with death. Confronting the reality of death is painful, but doing so helps each of the girls grow in strength and maturity.

Bridget lost her mother to an implied suicide as a young girl, and still struggles to reconcile her trauma and grief. She looks to her friends for support, and they in turn help her to temper her impulsive nature. In Mexico, without the perspective of the people who know her best, she finds herself throwing herself headlong into risky situations. During her rare quiet moments, she sometimes thinks of her mother, but can only recall her sequestered in her room, as she was during her depressive episodes. Bridget doesn’t want to dwell on her mother’s death, but the grief of that loss still affects her actions in ways she is beginning to understand and cope with at the end of the novel.

As she watches Kostos from afar during the feud between their families, Lena learns that he lost his parents and little brother in a tragic car accident. Despite experiencing so much tragedy, Kostos willingly makes himself vulnerable in sharing his feelings with Lena. The knowledge that Kostos and Bridget, who have both lost so much, are still open to love, shames Lena and motivates her to take a chance on love with Kostos.

Tibby has the most direct experiences with death, as she endures the deaths of her beloved guinea pig Mimi and her friend Bailey within a single summer. When Tibby finds Mimi dead, she freezes her body rather than burying her, thus avoiding confronting the reality of her death. This comes shortly before Bailey’s inevitable passing, and Tibby, in light of what is to come, is particularly distraught and uneasy with Mimi’s death. She has a similar reaction when Bailey’s leukemia worsens. Instead of visiting her, Tibby withdraws into her room and ignores Bailey’s calls. At 15, she is not emotionally ready to confront the reality that her loved ones can die.

Tibby eventually works up the courage to visit Bailey, and they spend several meaningful days together before Bailey’s death. Though Tibby briefly wishes to die herself, she overcomes this feeling by telling herself that Bailey would want her to live a full and happy life. In the wake of Bailey’s death, Tibby adopts her vulnerable, kind-hearted approach to life.

Ultimately, each girl acknowledges and deals with the reality of death. In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, as in life, loss is unavoidable, but its presence is balanced by the persistence of love and connection.

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