Upon my first few sections in the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio, I was not expecting the sort of ups and downs that I would be taken on throughout the story. While I was a little curious as to what August actually did look like, I'm still not sure if I can actually picture him the way that Via describes him in the "August Through a Peephole" section (Pg. 88-89). Yes, the cover does suggest that his ears and eyes are a little lower than usual, the cover does not prepare you for the scars that she describes. This may seem like something that sort of spoils the "wonder" of Auggie for the reader, but it does provide some insight to what he actually looks like. This helps the reader to sort of better understand different scenes where children run away screaming or people audibly react to his appearance. From the description, Auggie does seem like him might be a bit unexpected to say the least.
To me the book is more about Auggie learning to not let those initial reactions get to him. He's learning to focus on the way the universe is taking care of him because "the universe takes care of all its birds" (Pg. 204). Justin, Via's boyfriend, helped to provide those words of wisdom when he entered the Pullman's life. Justin saw what an amazing support system Auggie had for dealing the hand the genetic universe had given him. Justin was able to see Via who loved Auggie unconditionally, Isabell Pullman who did all she could to make sure Auggie was just where he needed to be, Nate Pullman who helped Auggie realize that he couldn't hide from the world behind an astronaut helmet, and of course Daisy who gave Auggie a glimpse of heaven. Auggie wondered shortly after Daisy died "how it would feel to be in heaven someday and not have my face matter anymore. Just like it never, ever mattered to Daisy" (Pg. 227).
While Via does love Auggie very much, there is a sense of her not wanting to be known as "the girl with the deformed brother." Because almost everything in her life does revolve around Auggie or her mom can't watch a movie with her because she has to go pick up Auggie, I can understand how Via sees her universe this way:
"August is the Sun. Me and Mom and Dad are planets orbiting the Sun. The rest of our family and friends are asteroids and comets floating around the planets orbiting the Sun. The only celestial body that doesn't orbit August the Sun is Daisy the dog, and that's only because to her little doggy eyes, August's face doesn't look very different from any other human's face. To Daisy, all our faces look alike, as flat and pale as the moon" (Pg. 82).
I sort of understand what Via feels like in this sibling type of way. It's not that she doesn't love Auggie, it's sort of that she feels like she's not her own person. I understand that because in high school I was sort of known as "Levi's little sister," I was living in his shadow, and I couldn't wait to get to college where no one knew any of my siblings. Here I am my own person. While I do love my brothers and my sister, it is nice to be known for my own actions and not those of my siblings before me. Although my situation isn't quite as extreme as Via's, I can understand that sometimes she wants to be the sun.
No comments:
Post a Comment