The Best Halloween Ever

“The bank manager was mad because of his door, and the bank guard was mad because he picked the wrong thing to guard, but nobody blamed him. How could he know what the Herdmans were going to do? Most of the time, I don’t think even the Herdmans knew what they were going to do.”

Beth’s wry reflection about the Herdmans gives an insight into their spontaneity and creative mischief. Although the grown-ups think of the Herdmans as anarchist masterminds, Beth knows their plans are more spur-of-the-moment than planned.

“Mr. Crabtree […] was just saying don’t stay up past your bedtime and don’t forget your schoolwork and don’t eat a lot of candy and get sick. What’s wrong with that?”

Beth’s mother’s statement in defense of Mr. Crabtree illustrates the vast gap between the way grown-ups and children think. For Mrs. Bradley, the principal’s strict and cautious attitude toward Halloween is natural, but for the children it is stifling.

“They didn’t dress up—they didn’t have to, because they looked like Halloween all the time.”

Beth’s remark about the Herdmans is somewhat mean-spirited, but also funny—and, potentially, envious. While Beth does not want to join the Herdman family, she understands that certain aspects of their lives are more chaotic and varied than hers. The apparent effortlessness with which the Herdman siblings embody their individuality is a marked contrast to the amount of work Alice puts in to come up with the most creative costume every year.