From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Themes

Sixth-grader Claudia Kincaid, the protagonist of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, decides to run away from her monotonous suburban life to glamorous New York City. From the start, the narrator (Mrs. Frankweiler) observes that Claudia is simply tired of being “straight-A’s Claudia Kincaid.” Indeed, Claudia mostly thinks of running away as payback for her parents’ expectations of her as the eldest sibling, finding these unfair. After she…

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is filled with secrets—from the Kincaid kids’ initial plan to run away from home, their elaborate scheme to stay hidden in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and later, eccentric art patron Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’s “mixed-up” files containing a lifetime’s worth of secrets. The biggest secret, though, revolves around the mysterious Angel sculpture on display at the Metropolitan. Soon after arriving at the museum, Claudia…

In some ways, the Kincaids’ running away from home and hiding in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is childish, and their motivations are decidedly mixed. Jamie, for instance, relishes the chance to wear sneakers instead of school shoes, and he wants to be free of schedules and the obligation to study and learn. And Claudia, for her part, seems oblivious to the fact that running away causes their parents a great deal of…

When hiding in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Claudia Kincaid decides she and her brother Jamie should devote themselves to learning everything they possibly can about the museum, choosing one gallery to explore each day. But her plan is quickly derailed when she falls in love with the newly exhibited Angel sculpture, deciding it’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. After learning it might be an early work of Michelangelo, she insists on doing…