The Great Treehouse War

Part 3 comprises the climax and resolution of all the narrative’s primary conflicts. Finding a solution to the contention between the Treehouse Ten reveals a similar solution to the conflict Winnie faces with her parents. Central to the resolution of these conflicts is the distinction between wants and needs, which develop as a minor motif in this section to support the final development stages of Winnie’s character arc and the themes of Self-Advocacy and Standing Up for One’s Needs and Navigating Parental Divorce and Complex Family Dynamics. 

Identifying the difference between needs and wants leads Winnie to a clear action plan that resolves the narrative conflicts and concludes the novel’s exploration of Self-Advocacy and Standing Up for One’s Needs as well as Navigating Parental Divorce and Complex Family Dynamics. Chapter 14 introduces the motif of wants versus needs as Winnie observes that “her friends [...] had come to the treehouse with very clear demands about what they wanted. But in the shifted light, Winnie [begins] to see that perhaps what they really wanted was something else entirely” (218). Using her Artist Vision, Winnie probes the initial list of demands and realizes that her friends are actually seeking deeper things from their families, such as independence, respect, and support. Their initial wants point to deeper needs. Only after addressing these needs and facilitating the families’ communication does Winnie repair the rupture between her friends and reunite them with their families, reinforcing the novel’s message that communication and respect for others’ perspectives are the keys to navigating family dynamics of any kind. 

Resolving the situation between her friends foreshadows the resolution that Winnie achieves with her own parents. After Winnie helps Aayush stand up for his choice to leave the treehouse and return to his family, “it calm[s] the washing-machine churning in her stomach, just a little, to know that she [is] helping” (229). The “washing machine churning” represents a physiological symptom of the intense emotions Winnie feels because of her parents’ conflict; that it is calmed by helping Aayush stand up for himself suggests that only by doing so herself can Winnie resolve her internal conflicts and the conflict with her parents.

Winnie uses her Artist Vision as a tool by which she reaches important revelations that drive her to stand up for her needs. Part 3 develops Artist Vision as a motif and a tool of resolution. Uncle Huck’s comment to Winnie in Chapter 13 foreshadows its role: “Sometimes it helps to turn your Artist Vision on yourself, too, you know” (212). Winnie does exactly that once she is alone in her treehouse, and she “[isn’t] entirely happy with what she [is] observing” (245). She recognizes her sleepless nights and churning stomach as symptoms of the unresolved issues with her parents, prompting the realization in Chapter 17 that she needs something more from her parents: “Once she [turns] her Artist Vision on herself and really examine[s] things in the shifted light, she [realizes] that what she need[s is] something more” (260). This moment catalyzes the climax. 

The narrative’s climax occurs in Chapter 17 during the confrontation between Winnie and her parents, demonstrating Winnie’s growth as a character and tying together the themes of Self-Advocacy and Standing Up for One’s Needs and Navigating Parental Divorce and Complex Family Dynamics. The wants and needs motif returns to facilitate the resolution as Winnie repeats the words “I need” and “I want” over and over again until her parents finally listen to her (261). Winnie overcomes her previous inability to directly confront conflict and her own emotions surrounding it, completing her character arc. Her parents’ act of listening to her underscores the novel’s position that communication, cooperation, and compromise are key to healthily navigating complex family dynamics.

Notably, Chapter 17 is the only chapter in the novel lacking any sort of sticky note commentary, which contributes to a more serious tone and emphasizes the pivotal moments of Winnie’s transition from conflict-avoidant to self-advocacy. This choice also subtly shifts the narrative perspective: The sticky notes reinforce immersion in the collective memoir framing, but their absence here distances the reader from that framing and allows them to focus solely on Winnie’s experience, centering her growth as a character. 

The illustration of Winnie’s June calendar evidences the material change that Winnie sees in her dynamic with her parents after this climactic confrontation. It foils the April calendar that precedes Chapter 4, prompting comparison between the two. While the April calendar symbolizes Winnie’s unbalanced relationship with her parents, the June calendar demonstrates a reasonable balance. While holidays are still marked on the calendar, they are not every day, and there is room for Winnie’s important dates such as deadlines for important schoolwork and activities with friends. Appended to the calendar are sticky notes wherein Winnie seems to be communicating with her parents—they ask her if she’d be interested in a particular event, and Winnie responds to them, demonstrating the improved communication between Winnie and her parents.

The novel’s resolution in Chapter 18 reinforces the indirect characterization of the changed dynamic. Winnie’s Artist Vision returns one final time to reveal her parents’ transformation: Winnie hasn’t used “her Artist Vision in a while, but she turn[s] it on [now] just for practice. She squint[s] her eyes, observing her parents in the shifted light. The twitch of her mom’s lip, just before her mouth morph[s] into a smile. The smirk in her dad’s eyes, as he watche[s] his daughter” (271). The good humor her parents demonstrate stands in stark contrast to the hostility they have exhibited throughout the rest of the novel, demonstrating their changed dynamic. The final line of the narrative reinforces this transformation as Winnie, for the first time in ages, “[finds] that she [doesn’t] mind [her parents’ idiosyncrasies] too much” (272), completing the full resolution of the novel, and establishing communication as the key to nurturing healthy family dynamics.