Stranger Out of the Spotlight

Deformed- to make ugly, ungraceful, or displeasing; spoil.

The book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, shows the perspective of a boy named August with a face deformity and the perspectives of his friends/family. One of those perspectives shown is from his sister, Via. She shows what her life is like living with August, which can be pretty tough. What I’m really trying to say is that Via feels jealous about how much attention August gets from her mother because he’s deformed.

Some small moments that Via has shows how left out she feels. When Via thought she was going to have some mother-daughter time with her mom, her mom found out that August was feeling sick at school and all of the attention was shifted to him instead of her in an instance. Just like that, the spotlight was moved off of Via and never moved back. I believe that not only does she feel jealous, she also feels hurt. Her own mother just forgot about her. She was treated as if she were unimportant to her mother. Also, Via once woke up in the middle of the night and saw her mother watching August to make sure he was okay, “I wonder if she’s ever stood outside my door like that” she thought. In other words, she was envious of how much her mother took care of August and wanted to be cared for as much as him. This is important because, Via is a person, too. It’s not only about her wanting attention, it’s about her feeling wanted. It’s about her feeling like a daughter to her mother, not a stranger out of the spotlight.

Everyone should be cared for. Everyone should feel wanted and loved. And to many, especially teenagers, getting attention and feeling wanted are important. I’m thirteen years old, so I should know. There are always so many things on my mind like doing homework, studying for tests, thinking about which high school I want to go to, etc. Most days, my brain is a ticking time bomb. I notice that the days that I’m most stressed, the days I need help, no one listens. The times I feel like I need attention from my parents, they put their attention on other things and ignore my cries. Sometimes I feel like the stranger out of the spotlight. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like a stranger to someone so familiar, like a sibling or parent? I think everyone has felt in a way deformed, especially Via. She feels like she’s displeasing and ungraceful to her mother. She connects with August in this way, but Via will never see that connection. Via will never see August as ugly, ungraceful, or displeasing. She will never stop loving him, no matter if she feels like an unwanted stranger.