Because of Winn-Dixie

Opal announces her two surprises for Gloria Dump, and gives her a Littmus Lozenge. Gloria remembers her dad eating them. Opal then reads to Gloria from Gone with the Wind, and Gloria says it is the best surprise she has ever gotten. Opal goes home and gives the preacher a lozenge that night before bed. The preacher shrinks back into his shell, a bit intimidated by the sadness he can taste in the lozenge. He says the taste reminds him of Opal’s mother. After that, the preacher insists Opal apologize for insulting Stevie Dewberry. Opal is hesitant, but finally agrees. Opal then asks the preacher about Carson, and the preacher tells Opal that Amanda’s five-year-old brother Carson died the year before while swimming. This makes Opal sad for Amanda. That night, Opal thinks about the way sadness can connect people: “I didn’t go to sleep right away. I lay there, and thought how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out” (126).