Wayside is Weird
That Wayside School is a weird place—a deeply weird place—is situated almost immediately in the opening scene of the book. A delivery driver shows up with a package for a teacher names Mrs. Jewls. The first person the driver runs across is Louis, the yard teacher. The exchange which follows becomes an example of imagery which will be thematically replicated throughout in a way that constantly underlines the general weirdness associated with the property:
“Are you Mrs. Jewls?” asked the man.
“No,” said Louis.
“I have to give it to Mrs. Jewls,” said the man.
Louis thought a moment. He didn’t want the man disturbing the children.
“I’m Mrs. Jewls,” he said.
“But you just said you weren’t Mrs. Jewls,” said the man.
“I changed my mind,” said Louis.
Punchlines
One of the most effective uses of imagery in the novel is dialogue between characters that leads to a punchline. This punchline is often ironic in nature which only makes sense because the general tone of the humor which pervades the novel is ironic:
“What do you eat?” she asked.
“Mulligan stew,” said Bob. “My friends and I collect scraps of food all day, and then we cook it up in a big pot and share it. It’s always different, but very tasty.”
“Why is it called mulligan stew?” asked Stephen.
“There was once a hobo named Mulligan,” said Bob. “He made the first mulligan stew.”
“Was he a good cook?” asked Todd.
“No, he was eaten by cannibals.”
The Title
The title of this entry in the Wayside School series derives from a nursery rhyme. The nursery rhyme is given a modern-day twist that comments upon the architectural weirdness of the school. It reaches thirty stories into the sky in which each floor is comprised of a single room:
“Wayside School is falling down, falling down, falling down. Wayside School is falling down, my fair lady.
Kids go splat as they hit the ground, hit the ground, hit the ground. Kids go splat as they hit the ground, my fair lady.”
Miss Zarves on the Nineteenth Floor
A strange little subplot is strangely told in the middle of the book over the course of three different chapters, each identified as Chapter Nineteen. The story here focuses on a teacher named Miss Zarves and her class on the nineteenth floor. Imagery that begins way back in the very first chapter is instrument in conveying the utter strangeness of this story-within-the-story:
Chapter 1: “Miss Zarves taught the class on the nineteenth story. There was no Miss Zarves.”
Chapter 19 (second): “Allison was still on the nineteenth story.
The desks were arranged in clusters of four. Allison sat at a cluster with a girl named Virginia, a boy named Nick, and a boy named Ray.
But Virginia looked old enough to be her mother. And Nick looked like he should be in high school. Ray was a couple of years younger than Allison.”
