Essay - How Do The Characters In The Book Wonder Demonstrate Greatness

How Do The Characters In The Book Wonder Demonstrate Greatness?

By me,

For xxx teacher

What is greatness? How do we demonstrate greatness? The book “Wonder” written by R.J. Palacio is about a deformed boy called August. He goes to school for the first time, tries to fit it, when he is borned to stand out. He is in fifth grade and has a really hard time dealing with bullies. However, with the support of his family and friends, he succeeds in being a good student that everyone likes. And through August, his classmates all learn about greatness. At the beginning of the school year, Summer is the only one who sat with August at lunch, and they become friends; Jack is both a classmate and a good friend of August; Julian is a bully who never rectifies. “Wonder” is a touching book that teaches people about greatness, but what is greatness? In the book, “Greatness, lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength…” How do the characters in the book demonstrate greatness? The characters demonstrate greatness by being loyal and brave, by being kind and caring and sympathetic, and by being inspiring and lifting up others’ hearts.

Firstly, the characters demonstrated greatness by being kind, caring and sympathetic. August was being a really kind, caring and sympathetic person. During Halloween, at school, when Jack didn’t realize August was listening behind his mask, he badmouthed August, “Actually, what he really looks like is one of those shrunken heads. Have you ever seen those? he looks exactly like that” (77). August heard it, and he was angry with Jack. August ignored Jack for quite a period of time. However, when Jack asked if he could become friends with August again in text, August accepted. Jack asked, “... really really really sorry for wat I said dude, OK? can we b frenz agen?” (166) August replied to Jack, “yes dude we’r frenz agen” (167). He didn’t hesitate or interrogate Jack. It shows that he was a really kind person that forgave people easily, because he understood how it felt to lose a friend. August’s mum was really kind, caring and sympathetic too. She always forgive her family members, August’s friends, and Via’s - August’s elder sister - friends. Once, August lost his temper with Mum when she was asking him about school, because he wasn’t in the mood. August apologized to Mum at night, and Mum said, “Shh… You have nothing to be sorry about…” (60) She forgave him because she understood how difficult August’s day at school was, when people treated him poorly, and that he was unhappy. This shows she was a kind, caring and sympathetic person. Summer is another example. At the beginning of the year, no one was sitting next to August. Summer went to sit with him, because she felt sorry for him - She didn’t do it because she thought he was weak or special with special needs, she didn’t do so because she was asked, but because she was kind, and she felt sorry that no one sitting with him, and they became friends. Once, Charlotte, a good student, asked Summer, “Did Mr. Tushman ask you to be friends with him?” (119) Summer answered, “No. I’m friends with him because I want to be friends with him” (119). This shows that what she did was out of pure kindness and sympathy. She could understand how August felt when he had no friends, and she went to be his friend because she was kind. She is a being really kind, caring and sympathetic. It also shows that she was loyal and brave too because she told the truth. Hence, the characters demonstrated greatness by being kind, caring and sympathetic.

Moreover, the characters demonstrated greatness by being loyal and brave. There was a popular girl called Savanna in school, and Summer was invited to Savanna’s Halloween party. When Summer was in the party, Henry, Savanna’s boyfriend, asked, “So, we want to know why you hang out with the Zombie Kid so much” (Palacio 122). Summer answered, “He’s not a zombie” (122). At the time when Summer had a chance to let go of August and be in the popular group that was spiteful to August, she didn’t. Summer didn’t let go of him, hide the truth, or badmouthed him because she was being a loyal friend both inside and outside. She was also really brave because it was dangerous to not pretend she didn’t like August, but to stand up for August instead. Jack was also a character who was loyal and brave. Although Jack once betrayed August, it was out of anxiousness, because Julian the bully was talking to him. However, he was still a true friend of August. Jack realized afterwards August was listening, he felt guilty and was ashamed of himself. On the same day, Jack was arranged to be partners with August for a Science project. Julian said, “You should tell Ms. Rubin you want to switch partners. I bet she’d let you” (154). Jack became really angry because of the way people were treating August, like August was scary and dangerous. Julian asked Ms. Rubin if they could switch partners and Jack stopped him. Julian said to Jack, “You don’t have to be friends with that freak if you don’t want to, you know…” (154) He went so mad for August he punched Julian right in the mouth. Although hurting others wasn’t what he should do, it showed he was a really loyal friend to August. He didn’t hide the truth, but he showed to others that he liked August, and would always stand up for him. Therefore, the characters demonstrated greatness by being loyal and brave.

Last but not least, the characters demonstrated greatness by being inspiring and lifting up others’ heart. Grands was a character who lifted up one’s heart. Her words lifted up Via’s heart and covered her like a blanket. No one to really took care of Via since August was borned. Everyone’s attention went to August, who was physically deformed and weak. Once, August had a surgery and Via had to stay with Grands. They went to a beach and Grands told Via she loved her more than anyone else in the world. Grands said, “You are my everything” (87). No one was paying attention and Via felt very lonely. At the time, this warmth of Grands’ words covered her like a blanket. That lifted Via up and kept her warm. Daisy, August’s dog, inspired someone too. She inspired August. August always thought that everything in the world is about him. August was not considerate to anything else, not until Daisy died. One day, August and his family were all arguing, about Via being embarrassed of letting her classmates know about August. August went mad because of the way his family treated him, like he was still small and doesn’t understand or know anything. August went into his room. That was when Via told him Daisy had been sick and was in pain and was whimpering. August realized not everything was about him. Before, he didn’t even notice Daisy was getting old and sick. On that day, he went to see Daisy and finally paid attention to her, he said “Bye little girly. I love you” (221). The other morning when he was about to go for nature retreat, he saw Daisy’s ghost when he woke up. August was really nervous about leaving home and being bullied more in nature retreat, but Daisy’s ghost gave him confidence. In the book, he thought, “It didn’t make me sad to see her at all: it just filled me up with nice feelings inside” (256). Daisy did inspired him, changed him, lifted up his heart and gave him confidence. August was a character who inspired a lot of people. One of the people he inspired most is Jack. In the beginning, Jack was a person who discriminate the kind of people like August - people who are deformed and has some physical problems. He then felt sorry for August and became friendly to him. Then, Jack found out that August was a cool dude and he became August’s friend. He said in the book, “At first, I admit it, I was only friendly to him because Mr. Tushman asked me to be especially nice and all that. But now I would choose to hang out with him. He laughs at all my jokes. And I kind of feel like I can tell August anything.” It shows how he changed and realized people like August could be cool and fun. However, he still wasn’t a loyal person before. At halloween, in the classroom, when he didn’t know August was there and said to the popular people, “If I looked like him, seriously, I’d kill myself… Tushman asked me to hang out with him at the beginning of the year…” (77) He still wasn’t a loyal person at that time, but after he recognizes it, he regretted and finally understood how August must have felt. He changed and became a greater and more loyal person. August taught him a lesson and inspired him, a lot - that people with problems can be good too, and that being a loyal friend is important. Thus, the characters demonstrated greatness by being inspiring and lifting up others’ heart.

The characters in the book demonstrate greatness by being loyal and brave. They demonstrate greatness by being kind, caring and sympathetic. They demonstrate greatness by being inspiring and lifting up others’ heart. These are really good ways to demonstrate greatness - not being strong, but using strength the right way. How they demonstrate greatness is also important to us, we can demonstrate greatness like them too, so keep them in mind. However, different people demonstrates greatness in different ways, how do you demonstrate greatness? Do you do it like how the characters in the book do it?