Though nearly everyone in The Boxcar Children comes across as super wholesome, the characters have more secrets than a telenovela. The Alden children basically put themselves in the witness-protection program to avoid detection by their grandfather (and never tell anyone how their parents died or where they lived before they went on the run). Plus, Dr. Moore is engaged in a spy-level surveillance program of their home in the woods, and Mr. Alden totally lies about his identity to earn the kids' trust. By the end of the book, pretty much everyone is implicated as a lying liar, but hey—it all works out fine.
Questions About Secrecy
- Do you think all of the secret-keeping in The Boxcar Children is justified? Should the characters be more honest with one another? Why or why not?
- Do you think Dr. Moore should have told Mr. Alden about his grandchildren straight away? Why or why not?
- Think about the secrets that the characters keep and the outcomes of those secrets. Do you think the results are good or bad? Explain your answer.
Chew on This
The Boxcar Children promotes many values, but honesty isn't one of them.
The Boxcar Children demonstrates that honesty is the best policy by suggesting that there was never any real need for the Alden children to go into hiding.