Everyone Is A WONDER

Growing up is a difficult, intimidating path to Auggie, the protagonist of Wonder. Born with a medical condition that left him with a facial abnormality, he knows he is different from others, and people have always had a strange vision of him since he was born. These sights made him feel inferior and afraid to step out of his comfort zone to contact others. “I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you are thinking, it’s probably worse,” he said so about himself. With a scarred face, downward eyes, and a protruded nose, he looked so different that some people may jeer at him with some hurtful words, making him less confident. Also because of this reason, he was bullied by peers at school.

The novel deals with an important issue, which is “bullying.” Schools are like a small society, and people will be ostracized if they are a little bit weird. It’s cruel, but it’s also real. “So send Auggie to the school like a lamb to the slaughter,” said Auggie’s father, who was worried that the classmates weren’t very friendly to Auggie. On the first day of school, all eyes were on Auggie, and no one came near him because of his appearance and lack of understanding. Lots of bullying in life starts in this way. In fact, there are so many cases like Auggie’s in society, which is sad because no one tried to actually get to know who he is and understand him. In this novel, most of Auggie’s classmates didn’t realize they were wrong at the very beginning, but teasing him or isolating him is no different from bullying. As a grown-up, everyone is obliged to be responsible for what they say and what they do. And any wrongdoing should be pointed out and thus corrected. To wrap up, we should respect every person, regardless of their gender, appearance and age. We should not forge stereotypes of others before knowing them for who they are. Respect someone enough to learn their stories.

And I think the core idea of the whole book is “kindness.” The principal made a speech at the ceremony, and he repeatedly stressed the importance of showing kindness and respect to others, “Kinder is necessary. Because it is not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.” Furthermore, at the beginning of the school year, Mr. Browne, a school teacher, wrote on the blackboard: “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.” I think this precept reflects a lot on Auggie’s choices. For example, he was willing to forgive Jack, who once said something vicious about him, and to be friends with him again. In my opinion, kindness is the most significant characteristic of Auggie. It also makes Auggie a strong person. In the end, he won the Henry Ward Beecher Medal by his bravery and kindness. And the principal said something of affirmation and praise for Auggie’s kindness when he issued the award, “ ‘Greatness,’ wrote Beecher, ‘lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength... He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts…’” Because of Auggie's generosity, he not only won friends, but also won an award for himself. From this, we can know kindness to others trumps all.

The author uses a first-person perspective to tell the story. This writing technique lets me strike a chord with the characters in the novel and I can easily learn a lot about respect and kindness from the plots of the story. While reading this story, I thought Auggie was a poor kid and felt sorry for him at first. However, with every page I read, my opinions toward him changed after I saw how Auggie deals with challenges with his courage and kindness. His life experience has inspired me and made me realize that everyone could be a wonder as long as we have the courage to face frustrations and be kind to others.