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August: Alien
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
After what seems like forever, a voice yells that they lost the bullies. Amos, Jack, Henry, Miles, and August find each other in the dark, and August realizes that Henry had been hanging onto his sweatshirt and leading him on. The boys listen for Eddie's group but hear nothing. They realize they lost their flashlight but are too giddy to feel scared. They laugh and go over the highlights of their escape, and then realize they have no idea where they are. However, Amos seems to know how to get back. Jack thanks Amos, Miles, and Henry for saving them and gives them all high fives, and then they all high five August as well.
The actions of Amos, Henry, and Miles show clearly that all kids have the capacity for kindness—and that it truly is a choice to be kind. Without Julian around, Amos, Henry, and Miles are able to make that choice to be kind and change their identities from bullies to kind and supportive friends. When they high five August, it shows that they've also fully abandoned the Plague, making it abundantly clear that they're through with Julian.
Themes
Amos, Miles, and Henry congratulate August on his bravery. August starts to become aware that his elbow is hurt and bleeding, and he tries not to cry. Jack notices that August's hearing aids are gone and suddenly, August starts crying uncontrollably. The guys comfort him, and Amos even hugs August and lets him cry.
While the other boys see what happened as a chance for heroism, it's worth noting that August was in very real danger and will suffer from this for a long time—at least as long as it takes to either relocate his hearing aids or get new ones.
Themes
