Status and Bullying Theme Analysis

For August and the other kids at Beecher Prep, status and popularity are of the utmost importance. Wonder is peppered with kids' observations about their social structure, how status and hierarchy function in their world at school, and what the consequences of being popular or unpopular are on the student body. In particular, Wonder suggests that as intoxicating as popularity might be for August and his classmates, the social structure that allows some students to be popular requires those students to bully their less popular classmates to maintain their position.

August was no stranger to bullying prior to starting at Beecher Prep. He and other students recount times when kids teased him at the park or in other public places, events that happened with unfortunate regularity. However, August recognizes immediately that being in school drastically changes the tenor of the bullying. Essentially, he recognizes that there's a major difference between bullying at the park (where the participants, and therefore the social structure, are constantly changing) and bullying at school, where the players remain constant and must defend their reputations daily against the same "threats." This results in a system where there's a great deal of pressure to constantly do the "right" thing in order to be perceived as more popular and climb the social ladder. Julian, for example, emerges early on as the leader of the popular kids, and he maintains his position by creating an environment where it's in his classmates' best interests to get as close to him as possible by ostracizing those he deems unpopular. This results in widespread bullying against August and anyone who associates with him, as well as against the two Maxes—whose only crime seems to be unashamed love of the game Dungeons and Dragons. In this way, August and the Maxes become stepping-stones for others to use to climb to the top.

On Halloween, August chooses to forego his carefully made Jango Fett costume in favor of going as the Bleeding Scream. In homeroom, when Jack gets roped into a mean-spirited conversation with Julian about August, Jack feels safe saying horrible things about August in front of the Bleeding Scream, not knowing that August is behind the mask and can hear every mean word Jack says about him. Later, in Jack's narration, he explains that he only said what he said because he "felt stupid" in front of Julian after spending so much time with August. He insists he never would've knowingly said anything terrible in front of August, showing clearly that there's social currency to be had in putting others down in front of the right people.

The events that transpire on the class camping trip and in the months leading up to it suggest that there are two remedies for bullying that can dismantle a toxic social hierarchy from within. Though Julian persists in trying to make August's life miserable by turning most other boys in the fifth-grade class against him, this eventually proves untenable—after a few months, August and Jack observe that most of their classmates are no longer interested in participating in Julian's crusade. As a result, most of their classmates return to behaving civilly towards August and Jack. Then, when Julian and his parents decide that he won't attend the class camping trip, it effectively removes the ringleader and main proponent of the bullying from the social group—with amazingly positive results. Miles, Henry, and Amos, who once followed Julian blindly and bullied August, finally choose to stand up to others who try to bully August. This is something they can do only in Julian's absence, which illustrates just how toxic one individual can be to a group. It also shows that people are far more likely to stand up to bullying when they're not going to be bullied themselves for doing so.

Taken together, Wonder's exploration of bullying and social structure illustrates clearly how toxic a social structure can be when it's predicated on putting down others in order to elevate oneself. The camaraderie and joy that August and his classmates show at their graduation reception (where Julian is, again, notably absent) suggests that it is far more fulfilling for all involved to participate in a social structure based instead on kindness, community, and lifting up others.