57 pages • 1 hour read
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom
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Themes
Personal Transformation and Growth
The novel’s primary theme centers on personal transformation and growth. Bradley starts the story as a defiant mean boy. The children don’t want to be around Bradley, and Bradley is proud of his repellant persona. He boasts, “Nobody likes sitting next to me!” (11). He brags about failing a test, and the narrator describes him as looking “like a good spitter” (13). He also lies constantly. He tells Mrs. Ebbel that someone stole the first note she gave him, and he tells his mom he’s the class president and gets all As.
Sachar attaches a slew of negative traits to Bradley. He creates a thoroughly unpleasant young person. The hyperbolic characterization adds humor to the story—it’s almost impossible to believe a young person could be so bad—but, more so, it sets the stage for the main theme: personal transformation and growth. By intensely spotlighting Bradley’s unruly conduct, Sachar enables readers to follow his growth. By the end of the novel, people like being with Bradley. He has friends: Jeff’s friends become his friends, and he gets along with the girls at Colleen’s birthday party. In his letter to Carla, he brags about receiving a perfect score on a test. Using the labels from the story, Bradley goes from “monster” to “good.”
However, it’s not as if Bradley got some sort of transplant. No one put the good qualities inside of him. The theme shows how people already have goodness inside of them. Sometimes, they need people to help bring out the positive traits. Bradley’s mom sees his potential to grow and transform when she tells Mrs. Ebbel, “Deep down, he really is a good boy” (25). Carla Davis reinforces Bradley’s capacity to transform himself when she says, “The magic is in you” (143). Personal transformation and growth don’t mean a person turns into someone different and adopts traits from someone else—it means developing the good traits they already possess. Even as Sachar builds Bradley’s monstrous image, he juxtaposes it with Bradley’s humane qualities. His connection to his animals showcases his compassion and imagination, and his begrudging attempts to befriend Jeff reveal he doesn’t want to be a vicious “loner.”
Personal transformation and growth aren’t easy. Once someone commits to change, they don’t automatically transform right away. Bradley’s journey from a “monster” to a good person features many setbacks. He rips his arithmetic homework and book report, and Jeff and his friends bully him. Bradley says, “I’m trying to be good, but nobody will give me a chance” (104). With Carla’s support, Bradley perseveres and never reverts back to his old behavior. He persists and becomes a good young person.
Friendship and Acceptance
At first, Bradley demonstrates his capacity for friendship through his collection of animals. Using personification, he turns them into people, and they symbolize his community or his friend group. Speaking on behalf of the animals, Bartholomew the Bear informs Bradley, “You’re our best friend” (71). Bradley’s reliance on toy animals indicates he’s not yet ready for human friendship. Around the animals, Bradley has control. He brings them to life, and he can make them say and do whatever he wants. He’s not vulnerable around the animals. Friendship involves vulnerability and surrendering control. With Jeff, Bradley tries to make a friend without seeming vulnerable or giving up control. He gives him a dollar to be his friend—it’s as if he bought him, so Jeff has to do what he says. He purchased him like an object: Jeff is his. Bradley declares to Carla, “So long as Jeff is friends with me, nobody else will like him” (57).
At the same time, Bradley rejects friendships to such an extent that, even after he gives him a buck to be his friend, he still acts like he doesn’t want to be friends with him. The lunch scene in Chapter 8 illustrates Bradley’s refusal to accept that he wants Jeff to be his friend. He makes it seem like they’re sitting together accidentally, and then he antagonizes him by saying he hates tuna fish and apples.
Monsters are often depicted as not needing friends; for Bradley to make friends, he has to stop acting like a cruel person and behave like a humane young person. He must accept that he has feelings and is vulnerable to others. Carla tells him, “I think you would like to get good grades. I think that the only reason you say you want to fail is because you’re afraid to try. You’re afraid that even if you try, you’ll still fail” (79). Trying applies to friendship too. Bradley doesn’t want to try and make friends because it puts him in a fragile position: They might reject him.
As with schoolwork, Bradley makes an effort and eventually succeeds: He has friends. He is friends with Jeff, Jeff’s friends, and, presumably, the girls at Colleen’s birthday party. He’s also friends with Carla. Carla tells Jeff that “the real way to build a friendship [is] by talking, and by being honest, and by sharing your feelings” (34). As Bradley accepts he’s not a “monster,” he accepts he has feelings, and makes friends by sharing his feelings. Jeff and Bradley are real friends because Bradley can tell him he’s scared about going to Colleen’s birthday party.
Confronting Fears and Insecurities
By creating such a vicious, mean-boy persona, Bradley makes himself fearful. He presents himself as a monster, and people are afraid of monsters. As monsters aren’t human, they don’t have fears or insecurities. To change and grow—to accept his need for real friends and outside approval—Bradley has to confront his fears and insecurities. He is afraid of connecting with other people. He sits alone and has no human friends. The narrator calls him an “island” (10)—it’s like he’s cut off from the rest of the world. Even his teacher, Mrs. Ebbel, doesn’t try to reach him. He’s also afraid of trying at school. He failed fourth grade twice, and the narrator speculates that he’ll have to retake fifth grade.
To mask his fears and insecurities, Bradley makes it seem he wants to be a “loner” who doesn’t care about school. He brags that nobody likes him, and he shows off his failing grade. It’s not that he’s afraid of making friends or trying to get good grades—it’s that he doesn’t want to do these things. It’s as if Bradley has no fears or insecurities to confront. Humans possess fears and insecurities, and Bradley intentionally crafts an inhuman identity.
Yet Bradley is human, and, like the other children, he possesses fears and insecurities. Bradley tells Carla, “I’m not afraid of anything” (79). Carla replies, “I think you’re afraid of yourself. But you shouldn’t be. I have lots of confidence in you, Bradley. I know you’d do so well, if only you’d try” (79). As Bradley commits to going from a monster to a good person, he confronts his fears and insecurities. He does his homework and almost turns it in. He writes a book report but rips it up.
As with personal transformation and growth, confronting fears and insecurities doesn’t happen in a snap. It’s not a battle that a person can win right away. Thankfully, Bradley has help. He doesn’t have to battle his fears and insecurities alone. His toy animals and his family assist him with his arithmetic homework. Carla gives him a book for his book report, then she tapes the torn book report together and turns it in for him. Jeff, too, pitches in by helping Bradley confront his fears and insecurities about birthday parties. By facing his fears and vulnerabilities, Bradley acquires friends and transforms.
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