Wonder  Essay

Based off of R. J. Palacio’s novel Wonder

 

        In the novel Wonder by R.J Palacio,  some characters that help guide his journey through Beecher Prep are Summer, Charlotte, and Jack Will (sometimes). Some of his other classmates like Julian, Henry, and Miles, create many obstacles for August throughout the school year. 

 

        One piece of dialogue that supports my claim is when Julian askes, “What’s the deal with your face? I mean, were you in a fire or something?” This quote shows that Julian is a coldhearted person because he doesn’t consider August’s feelings when he says that. One other quote from the story is, “I started to follow her, but Julian cut right in front of me, which actually made me stumble backward. “Oops, sorry about that!” said Julian. But I could tell from the way he looked at me that he wasn’t really sorry at all. ” This quote shows that Julian is obnoxious and likes to make fun of August just because of the way he looks, also taking advantage of him. Another quote from Wonder that shows Henry is a unkind person is, “Although I didn’t look at him directly, I could tell Henry did not want to move next to me, just by the way he dragged his backpack on the floor as he came over, like he was moving in slow motion. Then he plopped his backpack up really high on the right side of the desk so it was kind of like a wall between his desk and mine. ” Although, he doesn’t say anything mean to August, his body language shows that he’s making a big scene out of sitting next to August. When he puts his backpack up in between his desk and August’s, he’s purposefully trying to block him out of view, but also trying not to make it too obvious to August.

       

        Some characters that help/guide August throughout the school year are Summer, Jack Will, Charlotte. 

       

        Summer is one person that August makes friends with on the first day of school when they sat together at lunch. Summer is a funny and kind person, and she voluntarily sat with August on the first day, while most people still go out of their way to avoid touching him at all. A quote that shows Summer is compassionate is, “Some kids have actually come out and asked me why I hang out with “the freak” so much. These are kids that don’t even know him well. If they knew him, they wouldn’t call him that. “Because he’s a nice kid!” I always answer. “And don’t call him that.” In this quote, Summer is defending August from some kids that are being mean and calling him a “freak.” 

 

        Even though Charlotte wasn’t mean to August in any way, she didn’t exactly talk to August through the year. Jack Will, was sometimes unkind to August but them changed through the book. One quote that shows that he changed throughout the year is, “Oh man. It was August! All of this hit me in science class while the teacher was talking. Oh man. I’d been talking to Julian about August. Oh man. Now I understood! I was so mean. I don’t even know why. I’m not even sure what I said, but it was bad. It was only a minute or two. It’s just that I knew Julian and everybody thought I was so weird for hanging out with August all the time, and I felt stupid. And I don’t know why I said that stuff. I just was going along. I was stupid. I am stupid. Oh God. He was supposed to come as Boba Fett! I would never have said that stuff in front of Boba Fett. But that was him, that Bleeding Scream sitting at the desk looking over at us. The long white mask with the fake squirting blood. The mouth open wide. Like the ghoul was crying. That was him. I felt like I was going to puke. ” This quote shows that Jack regrets saying what he did because even though he didn’t know that August was coming as Bleeding Scream, he shouldn’t have said that in the first place. After he apologizes to August, they become good friends again.

 

        Throughout the book of Wonder, there are many obstacles along the way, but with the help of his good friends, August successfully makes it to 6th grade, also winning a huge award at graduation day.