Auggie & Me

“The Julian Chapter” begins with the quote, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” This theme appears throughout Auggie & Me, where characters endure internal and external struggles that aren’t obvious to others. Each story shows the dramatic difference that simple kindness can make during these struggles.

Some characters experience internal turmoil. While characters like Julian and Charlotte seem collected and confident to their classmates, both are consumed with anxiety and the desire to be accepted. Julian’s battle with nightmares and the humiliation they cause him makes him lash out against others. In the introduction, Palacio explains that she wanted to write a story to explain Julian’s perspective, “Not to exonerate his actions, since his actions in Wonder are reprehensible and indefensible, but to try to understand him better” (xv). Because Julian refuses to share with others how scared he feels around Auggie, no one knows why he is so cruel. Even Julian’s parents do not understand his “nightmare situation” (21) until his mom sees the class photo of Auggie. While some characters have parents who walk through anxieties with them, Julian’s parents encourage him to blame Auggie rather than confront his anxieties.