Theme in Wonder-A Short Essay

The Actual Essay-Theme in Wonder

        In the book Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, Mr. Browne's precept for November, "Have no friends not equal to yourself," applies to many of the characters' friend relationships, especially Summer's and Jack's friend choices and Henry and Miles's friendships with Julian, the antagonist who bullies August, the protagonist of the story, because of his craniofacial disorder that gives him deformed ears, a cleft palate, and uneven eyes.

        Summer is a good-looking, well-liked girl at Beecher Prep who shows kindness to August by sitting with him at lunch when nobody else does because August is gross when he eats; food flies everywhere because of his deformed mouth. They talk to each other at the summer table, named because August and Summer are both summer names. They become good friends, and by the time an unofficial "war" breaks out between the supporters of August and the supporters of Julian, this time at lunch proves to be valuable to both August and Summer. Summer's choice to be friends with August is unpopular with some people. Other students want Summer to date Julian, but she chooses not to because Julian is mean to August.

        Jack is another character with struggles in a friend relationship with August. Before August came to Beecher Prep, Jack was a friend to Julian, which makes it even harder to pick sides in the "war" after he punches Julian in the face for making another mean comment about August's face--the event that started the "war" in the first place. However, Jack had previously stated on Halloween that "If [he] looked like [August], [he'd] really kill himself," (76-77) in front of August when he didn't know August was standing near him because he was in a costume with a mask. This comment made it harder to rebuild his friendship with August, but he did regain August's trust when the "war" influenced his loyalties and officially ended his friendship with Julian after he punched him when he decided that "his friend was not equal to him" (155) in moral status, but August was.

        Other characters in the story also change sides in the story, such as Miles and Henry, who take sides with Julian in the war until some seventh graders bully August on the fifth grade nature retreat. They physically fight the older kids to defend August and cut themselves off from Julian. They realized that he was mean and they didn't want to be friends with Julian if he was going to bully a kid of normal intelligence just because his face was abnormal and strange, which is a really big change because Miles and Henry were like Julian's two henchmen and best friends with him. In fact, Henry's precept, "Don't be friends with jerks," (312) best summarizes his change of heart towards August and his official realization that Julian is the jerk that he refers to in this bold statement.

        The precept "Have no friends not equal to yourself" is a recurring theme throughout the book Wonder. Summer's, Jack's, and Miles's and Henry's friend relationships and who they associate themselves with reflects who the are inside and how they view other people, especially August, and how their beliefs are reflected throughout the story.

***If you liked this, make sure to check out my newest short story: Stella and the Star , or if you're looking for something darker, take a look at The Fortune Teller and Redeemed ***