The Imagery of Bullying
“Simon reached for a pencil, and a foot stampede down and snapped it. Simon looked up into Lance’s face. “Sorry Glass,” he leered. “Or should I say…” he pitched his voice into a squeaky falsetto, “Oh, nooooo!” Simon sighed and hung his head. Defeated. Lance leaned over and grabbed the exposed elastic band of Glass’s underwear. He stretched it out, then released. The band snapped against Simon’s crack just as the bell shrieked. As the crown moved on, one or two of them took a swipe at Simon’s pens, scattering them to the far end of the Commons. Lance picked up the calculator’s plastic bag and flipped it with a backhanded Frisbee toss into a garbage can.” This imagery gives the readers an idea of how Simon Glass was getting bullied by Lance and other schoolmates. It highlights the physical and emotional torture that Simon went through at the hands of Lance. It also shows how unpopular Simon was when nobody came to help him against the bullies. The imagery also justifies the revenge that Simon, later on, took against his schoolmates.
The imagery of Disappointments and Regrets
The readers get an image of disappointments and regrets from Coop’s father. He was so bitter and often projected his failures onto his son. It was like he was living in regret for how his life turned out to be. He regretted having done well in school since he never landed a good job as seen in his harsh words to Coop. He was warning Coop about taking school for granted lest he becomes like him. “Mr. Cooper snorted; he wipes his lips with the back of a meaty hand. “Lotta good that’ll do him. All he’ll ever do is win trophies for letting people run into him.” He gestured to a covey of gold statuettes on the television. “I won trophies, too. Fullback. All District. Not good enough for a scholarship. Ended up pumping gas for a living. He will too. Just like his old man. Big and stupid.” From this statement, the readers understand the regret and disappointments that were present in Mr. Coop’s voice. He was coming from a good place of not wanting to see his son fail, although he was harsh and mean while doing it. He was disappointed that will all those achievements, he could not secure a decent job.
Imagery of Charisma
The imagery of charisma and the male gaze has been brought out through Rob. Rob was known for his charm and influence over everyone in the school. The men wanted to be like him while the ladies wanted to be his girlfriend. He had his way with words around everyone as the narrator describes. “Looks-wise, Rob wasn’t lacking, but that wasn’t the whole story. He wore confidence like the rest of us wore favorite sweatshirts. Magnetism like Rob’s can’t be earned. When he walked into a room, there was a jolt and all eyes turned his way. No one noticed that his nose was big, and that he wasn’t all that tall. Girls squirmed, teachers twitched and everyone scuffled to be first in line to give Rob whatever he wanted. And Rob let them.” This imagery emphasizes how easy it was for Rob to get anything he wanted. It shows how natural he was with people. The imagery also indicates the extent people would go trying to please him. It also exaggerates his good physical looks which made people not notice that he was physically inadequate in some areas.
The Imagery of Simon Glass
“Simon was a textbook geek. Skin like the underside of a toad and a mushy fat. His pants were too short and his zipper gaped about an inch from the top. And his fruit of the looms rode up over his pants in back because he tucked his shirt into his tightey-whiteys. He had a plastic pocket protector with about a dozen pens and a calculator. It was retro-cool in our part of Texas to wear loafers or Top-sider boat shoes without socks, but Simon wore crepe-soled black lace-up wingtips.” This is partly an image of what Simon Glass looked like. It helps in determining what made him different from all the others in the school. The imagery has also been used to show why people like Lance targeted him. It was how different and delicate he looked that set him up for bullying. This image helps the readers understand how the main protagonist carried out himself before getting to know his story. It gives a vivid description of his fashion sense which as seen was quite the opposite of others.
