As we enter the beautiful month of March, we begin celebrating Disability Awareness Month. Those who struggle with disabilities often struggle with basic life skills. They may have trouble with simple daily activities. But on top of that, they are often judged or avoided by strangers who feel uncomfortable being around their disability. The book Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, explores a boy with this problem. He teaches some beautiful lessons about kindness to those who struggle with disabilities that we can all learn from.
Summary
This book explores a story using six different voices. It starts narrated from the point of view of the main protagonist, August Pullman, called Auggie. Auggie was born with an incredibly misshapen face, including tiny ears and eyes and a deformed mouth. Because of this, he has been through many surgeries. He has been homeschooled for most of his young life due to his self-consciousness around people. That being said, he has not formed many meaningful friendships throughout his life and is not comfortable around strangers. However, as he enters middle school, his parents decide to put him in school so that he can learn social skills and expand his comfort zone.
Starting at school many people struggle to adjust to his odd looks. It is very difficult for him to tell the few who are kind to him if they truly wish to be his friend or are merely driven by pity. He endures many embarrassing encounters as he finds out who is truly his friend and who is secretly ashamed or annoyed by him. Even his sister expresses in her viewpoint that she has become embarrassed by him and tries to keep his existence from her friends at school.
Several people try to force Auggie to leave the school, unhappy with him being around their children. However, he is defended by the principal and allowed to remain. His older sister and he start to be driven apart as a few of her friends are either made uncomfortable by him or try to use him to their advantage. They are reunited through the sad death of their dog. Finally, Auggie and a friend get hurt in a perilous fight to defend themselves at a summer camp. This brings people to want to support them and rallies the school around them.
Kindness In the Face of Hatred
There are some beautiful messages of kindness throughout this book. Auggie has an English teacher who uses monthly precepts to teach his young pupils about kindness. The principal also heavily emphasizes kindness and hospitality by getting children to show these virtues to students such as Auggie. Middle schoolers are difficult to convince to be kind at all times but the school works very hard to make it happen.
Each of Auggie’s friends faces opposition to allying with him. They are forced to go through great trials to remain in a positive relationship with him. Watching them overcome their doubts and embarrassments to keep their friendship with him is an excellent lesson. They even go as far as being in danger of physical harm to stay loyal to him. Seeing young people work so hard for something as small as a friendship is a great example of kindness.
We also see it when we see the hatred and bullying Auggie endures. We realize the injustice he is experiencing and it fills us with a sense of indignance. It reminds us that words and actions we may think are small or not important can have a great effect on someone’s life. This is something so important to keep in mind.
Pay it Forward
It is so easy to judge someone else we often do not even realize we are doing it. We may not even think that we are expressing judgment when it happens. We all come across people who look different, act differently, live differently, or believe differently than us. It is natural for us to immediately assume that they have something wrong and we are the ones who know how to live. We may not even try to understand their position at all.
Wonder is a great reminder of how to respect those who are different than us. Just because their life looks different than ours does not mean that they are wrong or shameful. We should work to understand the other side before we cast judgment. They may not even be able to help the thing we are condemning.
We should also always express kindness, no matter the person’s walk of life. Our words should be gentle and respectful. We should not treat them differently than anyone else we would find in their position. Our head should be thoughtful and polite, our heart should be full of compassion and love, and our hands should be full of helpful and supportive actions. If we follow this protocol we can very well make someone’s day. Our words are far more important to others than we know.
“When given the choice between being right or being kind choose kind.”
Wonder
Let us not judge others whom we do not know. Let us not act cruelly to someone merely because they are different. If we show them love and kindness, then even if we are treated wrongly we can say that we have done our part.