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4. How to Look (Both) Both Ways
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Look Both Ways, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Perspective and Assumptions
Independence, Freedom, and Identity
Joy, Resilience, and Childhood
Fear, Friendship, and Support
Bullying
Summary
Analysis
Today, Bryson’s mom lets Bryson stay home from school. This isn’t because of Bryson’s black eye, swollen face, and other scrapes, but because Bryson’s mom thinks it’s best to let things cool down at school. Before she leaves for work, she tells Bryson that she loves him, that she’s proud of him, and that he should do something besides play video games today. Soon after, Bryson’s dad tells him much the same thing, but leaves out the bit about not playing video games. He then kisses Bryson’s cheek over and over until Bryson grunts something his dad interprets as “I love you too.” Bryson rolls over and suddenly becomes aware of his aching body.
It’s not clear yet what happened yesterday, but it seems like Bryson has been beaten up, and his parents are both proud of him. Bryson’s parents read as affectionate and involved in their son’s life, since Bryson is getting this kind of support at home for whatever happened at school. This story’s opening also introduces Bryson as someone who’s very interested in video games, something his mom doesn’t seem to appreciate nearly as much as his dad does.
Themes
Hours later, Bryson gets up and, through his pain, makes himself oatmeal for breakfast. He plans to play video games today, no matter what Bryson’s mom said. He doesn’t want to think about school, the walk home, or what happened yesterday, but he can’t help it. He replays the beating he took yesterday afternoon. Bryson has seen the videos on social media of him trying to stay standing as long as possible. His mom made him delete the apps from his phone so Bryson has time away from the kids who don’t speak at school, but who skillfully write catchy, cutting captions for videos online. To forget, Bryson plans to “go[] to war” and play Call of Duty on the Xbox. He turns the system on and “crawl[s] into World War II.”
Video games, in Bryson’s mind, represent a much-needed escape from the beating he took yesterday. His walk home yesterday, this passage implies, wasn’t a good one: his independence left him vulnerable to the bullies who beat him up. The passage also suggests that unlike some of his classmates, Bryson might not speak up in school and then isn’t able to articulate himself quite as well on social media. In any case, Bryson is ready to not have to interact with any of his classmates today and to pretend he’s fighting in World War II instead.
Themes
Ty Carson, on the other hand, is at school today. All day, he feels like his classmates are watching him. There’s a new rumor today that overtook the old one from yesterday, but Ty still can’t shake the belief that his classmates keep looking away, or cutting their conversations short when he walks by. He feels so paranoid and like even the building is laughing at him. He wants to be small, like a penny that Mr. Munch would sweep into a corner. Since Ty can’t literally make himself small, he acts like a turtle. From the safety of his shell, he tries to figure out how he feels, why he behaved the way he did yesterday, and whether what he did was wrong.
Like Bryson, Ty also seems like he craves a break from his classmates, but he’s not able to stay home today. He’s clearly afraid of what his classmates might be saying or thinking about him, and he wants nothing more than to hide. Rumors, the story shows, have turned Ty’s life upside down, though the content of the rumors is still mysterious. However, whatever gossip is circulating is making Ty wonder if he’s in the wrong, suggesting that Ty might feel guilty about whatever he did.
Themes
Yesterday, Ty was just himself: cool, well-liked, and dramatic. He always acts like he’s in a video game. He’s known for crawling up the lockers or rolling down the hallway, or for wearing his backpack on his chest to pretend it’s armor. He’s a nationally ranked gamer and everyone knows it—he’s even been trying to convince Ms. Wockley to help him start a gaming league at school (she isn’t interested in another “distraction”).
School is, for Ty, just an extension of the video games he plays at home (though teachers and administrators, like Ms. Wockley, seem to resent this fact). Establishing that yesterday Ty was popular suggests that today, Ty is no longer popular. Whatever happened yesterday has fundamentally changed the social dynamics at school, and now Ty feels vulnerable and afraid of his classmates.
Themes
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The other gamers at school always want Ty to play on their gaming squads, but Ty only plays with the second best: Bryson Wills. Bryson wears his hair in an Afro and owns the look. His gaming handle is AfroGamer, and Ty’s is TYred. Ty insists it’s pronounced “tired,” but since he’s such a good gamer and “s[ees] red” when he plays, most people think it’s “Ty Red.” The boys live close enough to play together on weekends. Bryson likes visiting Ty’s house, since Ty lives on the same street as Ms. CeeCee. But Ty likes Bryson’s bigger house and bigger TV.
Ty and Bryson’s friendship is based on a shared love of video games and respect for each other’s skills. The two come from different backgrounds, though. The story implies that Bryson’s family is wealthier than Ty’s, as evidenced by the bigger house and TV, and because economically disadvantaged Bit Burns lives in Ms. CeeCee’s neighborhood.
Themes
Ty and Bryson both love Call of Duty, World War II, which bothers Ty’s parents. They try to convince him that Pac-Man or Super Mario Bros are better games, while Ty tries to portray Call of Duty as educational—he’s learning about World War II. Ty’s mother, though, insists that Ty has no idea what it’s like to fight in a war against Nazis. On some level, Ty gets this. He knows he doesn’t actually have a rifle or a helmet. But Ty also knows that he’s in some sort of war that makes no sense to him. He hears sounds in his head that make his heart beat oddly and his stomach do weird things, and he knows what it’s like to feel anxious and confused about a battle.
Ty’s parents seem to object to the violence in Call of Duty. They also seem to dislike that the game glorifies war, even against Nazis. But the game is helping Ty find the words to describe some other internal battle that he’s fighting. Ty is grappling with some piece of his identity, something that’s close to his heart—but at this point, he hasn’t yet made sense of whatever he’s feeling. He’s just anxious about this part of himself. This is highlighted by the fact that the story doesn’t say outright what Ty is thinking about—readers can come up with all sorts of possibilities, but there’s no way to confirm anything unless Ty is able to coherently express what he’s thinking about.
Themes
Ty knows this because yesterday, a boy named Slim kissed Ty after first period PE. They were fighting over the water fountain, and Slim kissed Ty on the cheek—but “close enough to his mouth to count.” It was odd and Ty was surprised—but he was also surprised that he wasn’t mad about it. It was weird, but not that weird. But someone saw the kiss and by lunch, everyone knew. By lunch, Slim twisted the story so that Ty kissed him. When Ty entered the cafeteria, he entered a warzone—everyone had their guns trained on him.
The kiss sounds like it could have been an accident, but it causes Ty to think more about whether he’s perhaps attracted to boys. His conflicted inner monologue suggests that he thinks he should be bothered and he should find it weird that he kissed a boy, but he doesn’t. And while in other circumstances Ty could just keep thinking about this privately, the rumor mill at school means that everyone else is now thinking about Ty’s sexuality. Whether or not Ty actually likes boys is beside the point—he now feels like a victim who must defend himself from kids eager to tear him down.
Themes
Bryson hears the rumor from Remy Vaughn, who would be cool if he didn’t try so hard to be cool. At their lockers, Bryson and Remy argue about whether Ty is gay. Bryson insists a kiss doesn’t make a person gay, and even if it did, who cares? Trying to figure out why Remy seems to care so much, Bryson asks why he’s so concerned. Remy insists he doesn’t care, so Bryson asks how many girls Remy has kissed. Remy scoffs and lies that he’s kissed lots of girls. Bryson doesn’t see the point in lying (he hasn’t kissed anyone either). And according to his cousin Candace, who’s Remy’s best friend, Remy is a bit pathetic. So Bryson teases Remy, tells him to mind his own business, and walks away.
Bryson coolly insists that a person’s sexuality doesn’t matter, and that it’s not something that he, Remy, and the rest of the school need to waste their time worrying about. Indeed, Bryson is more interested in figuring out why Ty possibly being gay is so important to Remy. The implication is that perhaps Remy is so interested because he himself is gay, but the story again suggests that Remy’s sexuality isn’t actually that important. (It is, of course, important to Remy, but the story suggests it’s not important for everyone else to worry about it). What’s more important to Bryson, it seems, is making sure that people aren’t bullying Ty (or Remy) based on rumor and speculation.
Themes
In the cafeteria, lots of kids are sitting with Ty to tease him to his face—including Slim. They crack terrible, biting jokes, call Ty all sorts of names, and bend their wrists like they just shot basketballs. Bryson walks right into it. He scoots in next to Ty and asks what everyone is talking about. Slim says Ty kissed him and that Ty is gay like it’s an insult. Bryson says that’s interesting, since he heard Slim kissed Ty. Relieved, Ty says that’s the truth—it feels almost like Bryson is backing him up in a video game. Slim, though, says loudly that he’d never kiss a boy.
As Bryson sits down and starts defending Ty, he reiterates that Ty’s sexuality is Ty’s business, not something everyone else needs to worry about and insult him for. Bryson’s backup makes Ty feel like he’s not totally alone to defend himself—he can’t hold his own against so many kids and their cruel jokes. And the jokes themselves are a way for these bullies to dictate what kinds of behaviors and identities they think are appropriate at school. Being gay, they show clearly, isn’t something that’s going to be tolerated.
Themes
Putting his hands up, Bryson says it wouldn’t matter if Slim did kiss a boy. Though maybe next time, he should ask permission instead of sneaking the kiss. The other boys at the table don’t know how to respond to this, but Trey says that Bryson must like boys too. At this, Bryson laughs. He says he’s not gay, but perhaps all the other boys at the table are. As Bryson’s dad always says, “those that scar you are you.” It’s clear nobody knows what this means, so seeing that Ty still feels terrible, Bryson says he doesn’t like boys, but he does like Ty. And he thinks it's ridiculous that everyone is so upset about a kiss on the cheek. To prove his point, he pecks Ty on the cheek and announces that he’s still alive.
Bryson confuses the other boys by taking issue not with the fact that a kiss between two boys happened, but with the fact that the kiss wasn’t consensual. This is confusing for the others because it totally shifts the focus of the conversation and suggests that Slim actually violated Ty. Bryson also suggests that the bullies are so caught up in hurting Ty because they themselves might be questioning their sexuality—they want to define themselves as totally different from Ty and make themselves seem as straight as possible. Bryson highlights how absurd this is when he kisses Ty and notes that a peck on the cheek isn’t a big deal. He’s trying to make the other boys look ridiculous and obsessed with the wrong things, though their silence and confusion makes it seem questionable whether he’s succeeding.
Themes
Bryson and Ty stop paying attention to the other boys at this point, but the other boys don’t let the issue rest. Instead, over the rest of the afternoon, the rumor changes to Bryson kissing Ty, and the “mighty snake of gossip” changes from a small garter snake into a deadly python. Bryson ignores it, but as he starts his walk home after school, he realizes Slim and other boys are trailing him. Slim doesn’t live in this direction, and the boys’ yells feel like staples in Bryson’s back. The moment Bryson turns onto Burman Street, Slim and the boys race after him. Bryson just turns around, hands up, and “d[oes] his best.”
At first, Bryson feels like he’s done his job: he deflected attention away from Ty and helped his friend feel better. However, Bryson can’t singlehandedly control the school’s gossip mill, which transforms his bid to help Ty into something that’s going to end up hurting Ty. This shows why Bryson’s parents are proud of him when they tell him goodbye in the morning in the story’s present: they’re proud that he stood up for Ty, even if it meant he got hurt. As the story’s title suggests, Bryson heeded the “call of duty” to defend his friend against homophobic bullying, just as Call of Duty: World War II asks players to answer the call to fight against Nazis. And again, Slim and his fellow bullies are just trying to make themselves look powerful and dictate what kind of behavior is okay at school.
Themes
That all happened yesterday. Today, Ty hears the gossip, and now it feels like a boa that’s strangling him. Ty saw the videos online last night, and he heard the rumors that Slim and his cronies jumped Bryson. So as soon as the final bell rings, Ty races out of class, out of school, past Ms. Post, and down Portal Avenue until he has to walk. He briefly rests in front of one of the big beige houses with big windows, a green lawn, and gorgeous rosebushes. Ty looks both ways and then snatches roses off the bush, ignoring the thorns stabbing his fingers. He runs a few more blocks, turns left on Burman, and reaches Bryson’s house, which isn’t as grand as the houses on Portal Avenue.
Ty feels like he’s being strangled because, in a way, Bryson did save him—Ty wasn’t the one who took a physical beating, after all. And this weighs on him. In addition to feeling paranoid and as though everyone is still talking about him, he also feels like he owes Bryson something for standing up for him. Ty snatching the roses explains where the missing roses that Fatima observed went: Ty is taking them to Bryson as a thank-you. Highlighting that taking the thorny roses is painful shows how much emotional pain Ty is in as he does this.
Themes
Bryson has been fighting computerized Nazis all day, listening to bombs in his headset to drown out the school rumors. He’s been ignoring Bryson’s mom, who suggested he read instead of make his painful hands work the controller. He pauses the game to make a sandwich, and this is the only reason he hears the doorbell. Bryson’s body still hurts as he shuffles to the door and sees Ty through the peephole. He opens the door.
It’s just luck, the story suggests, that Bryson isn’t engrossed in Call of Duty when Ty shows up. This means he’s able to open the door and see Ty and not make Ty feel even worse (if he didn’t open the door). The story also makes it clear that both boys are in pain, physically and emotionally. Bryson is healing from the physical beating, Ty’s hand hurts due to the thorny roses, and Ty also feels internally conflicted because of Bryson’s sacrifice yesterday.
Themes
Ty is panting, holding a few mangled roses, and his hand is dripping blood. Bryson asks Ty if he’s okay. Ty says he’s fine and asks if Bryson is okay. Bryson says he will be. Trying to make it less awkward, Ty asks if Bryson is playing Call of Duty. Bryson smirks that he is as Ty holds out the roses and says they’re for Bryson. Ty’s eyes start to get wet and a lump rises in his throat. There are things he and Bryson need to talk about, but they don’t need to say anything now. Bryson takes the flowers, sniffs them like he’s seen Bryson’s mom do, and ignores that they make his nose itchy. He opens the door wide and says they should clean up Ty’s bleeding hand.
Ty is very emotionally fragile: he desperately wants things to go back to normal, but he can’t pretend that nothing has changed. Bryson seems to pick up on this when he simply allows Ty to act like things should be normal (such as by talking about Call of Duty). And taking the flowers and treating them like a much-appreciated gift, even if they aggravate allergies, is a gift to Ty: it tells Ty that his apology and his thanks are understood and accepted. For now, they don’t have to actually voice any of what they’re thinking. Bryson can show Ty he cares, and that everything is going to be okay, by inviting him in and insisting that they do what they can to ease his physical pain.
Themes
