Mr. Avery Character Analysis in One of Us is Lying

Mr. Avery is a science teacher at Bayview High who is repulsed by social media and technology. At the start of the novel, Simon, Addy, Cooper, Nate, and Bronwyn are all held for detention in his classroom after having been discovered with cell phones in their bags during his lab—though Addy, Cooper, Nate, and Bronwyn all insist the phones were planted in their bags, Avery’s revulsion is so intense that he will not even listen to their pleas. After Simon’s death, Avery mostly avoids being singled out as a suspect—though the intensity of his open hatred of social media, technology, and his students’ “screens” makes the Bayview Four themselves question whether Avery could have resorted to drastic measures to make his unorthodox perspective heard in an increasingly tech-obsessed world.

Mr. Avery Character Timeline in One of Us is Lying

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Avery appears in One of Us is Lying. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Stereotypes and Unlikely Connections Theme Icon

...to learn that he and Bronwyn are heading down the hall towards the same destination— Mr. Avery ’s third-floor lab. Bronwyn insists she’s been “wrongfully accused” of whatever she did as she... (full context)

...she can flirt with the team’s newest recruit. She tries to plead her case to Mr. Avery , insisting that the phone he found in her backpack earlier wasn’t hers. To prove... (full context)

Mr. Avery tells the students he doesn’t believe them and begins outlining their assignment. For the next... (full context)

...for his backpack and digs around inside, complaining that he can’t find his water bottle. Mr. Avery points towards the sink at the back of the room and tells Simon to quietly... (full context)

...two cars, a red one and a gray one, have collided at a right angle. Mr. Avery goes outside to make sure no one has been hurt, leaving Bronwyn in charge. Simon... (full context)

...epi-pen. Bronwyn gets up to find a teacher and call 9-1-1, grabbing her phone from Mr. Avery ’s desk and running into the hall. Cooper kneels next to Simon, whose lips are... (full context)

Mr. Avery , Bronwyn, and two other teachers rush into the room, and Mr. Avery sends Cooper... (full context)

Cooper rushes back to Mr. Avery ’s room and finds that the paramedics have arrived. Three of them bring a stretcher... (full context)

...about whether they saw any oil in the cup Simon took from the sink in Mr. Avery ’s room, but none of them recall seeing anything. (full context)

...from Addy’s mother to ask Addy a few “follow-up” questions—Addy knows that today at school, Mr. Avery ’s classroom was blocked off with yellow tape, and policemen were going in and out... (full context)

...has a meeting with a lawyer. On his way down the hall, Cooper runs into Mr. Avery , who is struggling with a heavy box. He offers Avery his help, but when... (full context)

...appearance on the show and wonders aloud why no one is looking at “the teacher,” Mr. Avery . (full context)

...wasn’t in the room to have killed Simon. If none of the Bayview Four or Mr. Avery did it, that only leaves Simon himself; Kris points to the notes in the folder... (full context)