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Justin: The Universe
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Wonder, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Difficulty of Kindness
Independence and Growing Up
Status and Bullying
Identity
Parenting and Guidance
Summary
Analysis
August and Jack's potato lamp receives an A and is a hit at the science fair. Beecher Prep invites parents to come view all the projects at the gym, and August thinks he hates events like this. All the parents stare at him. The only event he liked was the Egyptian Museum because he got to dress up like a mummy. August explains that he's used to people staring at him, but it's a lot to handle when he has several hundred pairs of eyes staring. At the science fair, Mom, Dad, and Jack's parents hang around Jack and August's table. August notices that his classmates' parents seem to form groups that mirror their kids' groups.
August's observation about his classmates' parents is one of the ways that the novel suggests that children are, in many ways, much like their parents. Though this is good news for Jack and August, it doesn't offer a lot of hope for kids like Julian, Henry, and Miles. Essentially, for any of those three to start behaving in a genuinely kind way, their parents must change their behavior too.
Themes
