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Jack Will
Julian is the antagonist of the book and is August’s bully. Despite the fact that Julian is a known bully among the student body, teachers seem less aware of his bad behavior, as evidenced by Mr. Tushman inviting Julian to show August around the school before the school year starts. He's the most popular boy in school and works to create a social structure that encourages his classmates to put less popular kids down. For the most part, he's able to do this without attracting the notice or attention of adult authority figures, as a great deal of the bullying is directed at kids associated with August (like Jack) or uses cultural references that teachers don't understand, as when he asks August if he likes the Star Wars character Darth Sidious (whose face was burnt and deformed in one film). His best friends, Miles and Henry, help him in these endeavors. The novel suggests that Julian's bullying stem from the behavior that his parents, his mother in particular, model for him. Julian's mom exhibits ableist behavior and insists that kindness is too much to ask from the "regular kids" like Julian. Julian's downfall begins when his classmates begin to lose interest in excluding August, and it's complete when Julian decides to not attend the class camping trip. It seems his absence from the class camping trip is what allowed Miles and Henry to feel safe standing up for August, as they knew Julian wasn't there to bully them for it. Though he's absent for much of the end of the novel (and the social structure seems less toxic in his absence), his "postcard precept" to Mr. Browne over the summer suggests that he did learn his lesson and will endeavor to do better and be kinder in the future.
Julian Albans Quotes in Wonder
The Wonder quotes below are all either spoken by Julian Albans or refer to Julian Albans. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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August: Jack Will, Julian, and Charlotte
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What's cool about really little kids is that they don't say stuff to try to hurt your feelings, even though sometimes they do say stuff that hurts your feelings. But they don't actually know what they're saying. Big kids, though: they know what they're saying.
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August: Lamb to the Slaughter
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Maybe no one got the Darth Sidious thing, and maybe Julian didn't mean anything at all. But in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious's face gets burned […] His skin gets all shriveled up and his whole face just kind of melts.
I peeked at Julian and he was looking at me. Yeah, he knew what he was saying.
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Summer: The Plague
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How I found out about this is that Maya Markowitz told me that the reason she won't play Four Square with us at recess is that she doesn't want to catch the Plague. I was like, "What's the Plague?" And she told me. I told Maya I thought it was really dumb and she agreed, but she still wouldn't touch a ball that August just touched, not if she could help it.
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Jack: Ex-Friends
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And the truth is, though nobody's that obvious about it: nobody wants to hang out with him. Everyone's way too hung up on being in the popular group, and he's just as far from the popular group as you can get. But now I can hang out with anyone I want. If I wanted to be in the popular group, I could totally be in the popular group.
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Jack: The War
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Before she went out, she looked left and right outside the door to make sure no one saw her leaving. I guess even though she was neutral, she didn't want to be seen with me.
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Julian Albans Quotes in Wonder
The Wonder quotes below are all either spoken by Julian Albans or refer to Julian Albans. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
August: Jack Will, Julian, and Charlotte
Quotes
What's cool about really little kids is that they don't say stuff to try to hurt your feelings, even though sometimes they do say stuff that hurts your feelings. But they don't actually know what they're saying. Big kids, though: they know what they're saying.
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August: Lamb to the Slaughter
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Maybe no one got the Darth Sidious thing, and maybe Julian didn't mean anything at all. But in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious's face gets burned […] His skin gets all shriveled up and his whole face just kind of melts.
I peeked at Julian and he was looking at me. Yeah, he knew what he was saying.
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Summer: The Plague
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How I found out about this is that Maya Markowitz told me that the reason she won't play Four Square with us at recess is that she doesn't want to catch the Plague. I was like, "What's the Plague?" And she told me. I told Maya I thought it was really dumb and she agreed, but she still wouldn't touch a ball that August just touched, not if she could help it.
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Jack: Ex-Friends
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And the truth is, though nobody's that obvious about it: nobody wants to hang out with him. Everyone's way too hung up on being in the popular group, and he's just as far from the popular group as you can get. But now I can hang out with anyone I want. If I wanted to be in the popular group, I could totally be in the popular group.
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Jack: The War
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Before she went out, she looked left and right outside the door to make sure no one saw her leaving. I guess even though she was neutral, she didn't want to be seen with me.
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