Essay Questions

How is belonging and friendship represented in Roy? How does Mullet contribute to this?

Having recently moved to a new place, Roy is immediately outcast by his schoolmates; on top of this, Roy experiences persistent bullying at school that obviously drives him away from trying to befriend many of his peers. As a result, Roy must find acceptance amongst teenagers his own age who do not go to school with him, and Mullet is the most clear example of this in the text. Mullet is somebody who gives Roy meaning and a sense of belonging that he has difficulty finding in others, and is the person with whom Roy has the least difficulty maintaining friendship.

How would you relate the action taken against construction in the story to that found in fights against modern day social issues?

Roy, Mullet, and Beatrice adamantly fight against the construction project: starting with Mullet frequently trespassing around the site to prevent the owls from being hurt. Later on, their action is represented on a much larger scale: dozens of people show up to protests against the owl-endangering construction, and they ultimately manage to shut down the construction site in its entirety. This is strikingly similar to many protests seen in today's society: a small group grabs the attention of the general public and focuses it on their issue, leading to a large enough group to take action against the issue. Textbook examples of this include animal rights advocacy, advocacy in favor of LGBT+ rights, and advocacy against general governmental misconduct.

Do you sympathize with Mullet? Do you think he is just a delinquent? Why or why not?

Mullet is an underdog-like character; he may do things throughout the story that are viewed as illegal, but he does not do anything to cause undue injury or physical harm to anybody in the story—everything he does (the worst of which is vandalism of construction equipment while he trespasses) is for the sake of the owls' well-being. This is all not to mention that he is a teenage boy who lacks a stable life; he's seen by Roy running down a hot street without shoes on at the beginning of the book.

Had the story had an alternate ending in which the restaurant knowingly killed the owls in order to create their new site, what would follow? Would Roy, Mullet, and Beatrice fight this? How so?

The three protagonists care far too much about their cause to abandon it; they would definitely protest the decision to protect the owls and, to an extent, their own dignity. They have put hundreds of hours into their mission thusfar, and it would be ridiculous for them to stop fighting. It is most likely that they would organize further protests at the build site (which would then be the site of the restaurant) to prevent people from supporting the business, ultimately driving them into bankruptcy.

Does Leroy (the head of the construction project) deserve any sympathy for trying to earn an honest dollar and get the job done?

It is easy to say that Leroy doesn't deserve to be left completely uncompensated for his work, and that he deserves to earn money to support himself and his family. However, it is just as plausible to argue that it is immoral for him to kill the completely innocent owls in doing so. To avoid killing the owls, Leroy could simply pick up a job at another construction site that would not cause harm to the local wildlife.

Describe a time in which you undertook advocation in a manner similar to that in which the book's characters did.

Advocation can be on a small scale or large; in favor of humans or animals. If you have ever advocated for something, even if it is similar to what was seen in Hoot, describe what you did and how you did so. Additionally, reflect on this relative to the advocacy seen in the story: were you successful? Did you meet new people in doing so? What would you have done differently if you had a second chance to do so?