Don T Call Me Ishmael Analysis
Michael Gerard Bauer dealt with a topic that relates to the age group I’m in now. “Don’t Call Me Ishmael” was written about teen hood: Bullying, coping, low self esteem, self consciousness, the list could go on and St Daniels College is the place where it all happens. Ishmael is a fourteen year old boy who goes through the problems that I see teens face every day. His mates are nonetheless social outcasts themselves. All the characters in Bauer’s book deals with their own individual problems. One of Ishmael’s first and foremost problems is having a bully like Barry Bagsley. Ishmael is constantly targeted by Barry Bagsley and his gang of tormenting delinquents. I mean, what makes Ishmael stick out so much that he is teased and constantly
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Oh no! It’s Fishtail Le Sewer!”(pg 19) Insults like these are the reason Ishmael feels so self conscious about him and well, ‘crap’. Ishmael never participated in other activities other than going to school because he knows that Barry Bagsley would be waiting to torment him. One of Bill Kingsley’s problems is being judged too quickly. Students see him as none other than the overweight sci-fi freak that you should keep your distance from. People pay him out whenever he exclaims a geeky comment or looks at his appearance, “… I have to look at all that blubber all the time and it puts me off my lunch… when he walks around I can’t do my school work because the whole building shakes, and he’s always knocking my desk trying to squeeze all that lard down the aisle and his fat arse is always blocking out my view…” (pg214) or just does something out of the ordinary. Bill also gets his case of bullying from none other than Barry Bagsley himself. Bill deals with this by not showing his emotions or not having the courage to stand up to Barry, “Look, Bagsley will get sick of it after a while. Forget it-I’m fine.”(pg238) One of James Scobie’s problems is that he expresses his thoughts too much. He had a tumour operation and that caused him to lose one of his
Oh no! It’s Fishtail Le Sewer!”(pg 19) Insults like these are the reason Ishmael feels so self conscious about him and well, ‘crap’. Ishmael never participated in other activities other than going to school because he knows that Barry Bagsley would be waiting to torment him. One of Bill Kingsley’s problems is being judged too quickly. Students see him as none other than the overweight sci-fi freak that you should keep your distance from. People pay him out whenever he exclaims a geeky comment or looks at his appearance, “… I have to look at all that blubber all the time and it puts me off my lunch… when he walks around I can’t do my school work because the whole building shakes, and he’s always knocking my desk trying to squeeze all that lard down the aisle and his fat arse is always blocking out my view…” (pg214) or just does something out of the ordinary. Bill also gets his case of bullying from none other than Barry Bagsley himself. Bill deals with this by not showing his emotions or not having the courage to stand up to Barry, “Look, Bagsley will get sick of it after a while. Forget it-I’m fine.”(pg238) One of James Scobie’s problems is that he expresses his thoughts too much. He had a tumour operation and that caused him to lose one of his