Echo's 3 Patterns of 3s

 Echos 3 Patterns of 3s 

By: Harmony Lehman

Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, has a book structure like no other I have seen. Its unique way of telling the story captured my heart, as I'm sure it did many others. The story starts with a fairy tale in which there are three sisters, Eins, Zwei, and Drei. Even the telling of this fairy tale is unique, where the story is told while a boy is reading it, and runs into these very fairy tale characters. There are then 3 stories told from different perspectives, all three left on a cliffhanger. The book ends with a reunion of all of the main characters from each story, and then a return to the original story of the fairy tale. The unique part of this book is there is a pattern of 3s throughout its structure and plot, which is commonly associated with fairy tales. The Three Little pigs, Goldilocks, and The Three Little Billy Goats Gruff all have patterns of 3s in them. But Echo does not simply have one pattern of 3s.

The first set of 3s that appears are Eins Zwei and Drei themselves. They are 3 sisters who love singing, and whos voices blend beautifully. On page 15, it describes their singing, "They had three distinct voices: the first, that of a birdsong; the second, a brook trickling over smooth stones; and the third, the yodel of the wind through the hollow logs. When they sang, their voices blended so magically that the entire forest, from trolls to fairies, stopped to listen and marvel at their gifts". This is the most obvious use of 3s in the story. 

The second set of 3s is in the book structure itself. There are 3 stories told, in chronological order, all with completely different plots, but sharing the characters love of music. The first, a conductor and harmonica player, the second, a piano and harmonica player, and the third, a flute and harmonica player. They all have their own distinct instrument that they love, as well as the harmonica, which began their love of music in the first place. This second pattern of 3s, although seemingly obvious, did not strike me as important until I pondered the books patterns in further detail. 

The 3rd set of 3s is the musicians themselves. This relates back to the passage quoted on page 15, where each sound is unique, yet blends together nicely. The conductor has a musical sound "that of a birdsong", because he brings together all of the music, in harmonies and melodies and whatnot, similar to the complete sound of a birdsong, strong and confident, as well as pleasing to the ear. The pianist has a musical sound like "a brook trickling over smooth stones", because of the deep and rich sound that pianos tend to make. On page 273, it describes the piano filling the room with music, "The room filled with the rich timbre of the piano and its full bodied-tone". This description of the piano further proves its sound being similar to a the sound of flowing water. The flutist has a musical quality that of "the yodel of the wind through the hollow logs". Because the flute is a wind instrument, it has this wind-like quality of sound, matching the description used for the Dreis voice.