Big Nate: In a Class by Himself

“The point is, I want to use my talents for more than just memorizing useless facts. I’m meant for bigger things. I am…destined for greatness! I’m still not 100 percent sure what KIND of greatness I’m destined for, but I’ll figure it out.”

Few quotes in the story characterize Nate’s hubris quite as well as this one. First, Nate insults the skill he struggles with—memorization. Then, he claims that he is destined for greatness with complete certainty. Nate has no idea how to attain this greatness, but he is completely sure he will. Nate’s confidence is unmatched, particularly considering his lack of skills.

“Here’s the thing about Francis: He knows just about everything. He’s always got his nose buried in the ‘Book of Facts’ and he takes school pretty seriously. The truth is, he’s kind of a geek. But I’m allowed to call him that because we’re tight.”

Nate is very honest in his characterization of Francis, both the good and the bad. Nate sees Francis as a geek who is too serious about school, but Nate is also impressed at Francis’ knowledge. This ties into The Reality of Friendship. Nate is allowed to call Francis a geek, but the implication is that Nate would be angry if anyone else did.

“‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.’ Have you ever noticed that’s what people say right before they stick a bowl of lumpy oatmeal in your face?”

This quote ties into multiple themes. First, Nate’s expectations when told breakfast is the most important meal of the day are certainly not met by the reality of lumpy oatmeal, reflecting the theme of Expectation Versus Reality. Also, this is a prime example of how Nate loses autonomy to those trying to help him. Nate’s father loves him and is just trying to help, but Nate can make his own breakfast as a sixth grader. If Nate makes his breakfast, he might actually eat it, which is not the case this morning.

“‘Actually,’ Francis says, his eyes getting all dreamy, ‘I sort of wish we WERE having a test today. Mrs. Godfrey’s essay questions are so INVIGORATING.’

Diff!

Sorry, Francis. But when you start acting like the mayor of Geek City, it’s my job to knock some sense into you. You’re lucky I didn’t hit you with a heavier book.”

Furthering the characterization of Francis, he looks forward to academic challenges, unlike Nate, which also deepens The Reality of Friendship theme. Nate understands Francis but has no problem hitting him with a book when he goes too far. This is not an idealized friendship but a real one where friends sometimes give each other a hard time. Francis throws a book at him later in revenge, furthering this idea.

“We had detentions for two whole weeks. You get in trouble that bad with somebody, and it changes the way you think about him. When I saw Teddy dangling that squid from his nose, I figured he was okay. And when we did all those detentions together, I knew we were going to be friends for life.”

Teddy is a bit closer in temperament to Nate, so it makes sense that their friendship would develop by getting in trouble together. This section comes from Nate’s first descriptions of Teddy and helps establish his characterization, which also develops the novel’s depiction of The Reality of Friendship. Real friends can be silly together and sometimes get in trouble together.

“This could get ugly. Principal Nichols is Mr. Discipline. He doesn’t stand for any horsing around. And here I am body slamming him on his way into the building. Stand back. He’s about to explode.

‘I’m sorry, Nate! I wasn’t looking where I was going! That was entirely my fault.’”

This quote plays deeply into the Expectations Versus Reality theme. Nate is certain that Principal Nichols is going to punish him. Instead, Principal Nichols is completely understanding that Nate running into him is an honest mistake. This reaction sets expectations for the second time Principal Nichols appears. That time, however, he is far less nice and understanding.

“I have sort of an organization problem. One of these days I really need to clean out my locker. With a dump truck. Or maybe a match.”

Nate’s organizational problems are ingrained in his personality and part of why he struggles so much in school. If he were better organized, he would not have known whether he had a social studies test. Nate also would have probably brought home his book. If he were better organized, he probably would not have left his lunch. In short, most of Nate’s problems and the conflict of the plot are spurred by Nate’s troubles with organization.

“(By the way, I’m a Scorpio. That means I’m dynamic, loyal, and chockful of animal magnetism. In other words, I rock.)”

With any zodiac sign, there are positive and negative traits. Nate refuses to acknowledge the negative aspects (jealous, moody, manipulative, and resentful) and focuses only on the positive. This is typical of his character throughout the story. Either the negative does not exist for him, or he minimizes it.

“But fortune cookies bug me sometimes. Fortune-telling means predicting the future, right? But half the time fortune cookies don’t tell you ANYTHING about the future. They’re just lame sayings.”

Nate spends much time explaining how fortune cookies are useless and tell nothing about the future. The irony is that Nate believes his fortune wholeheartedly after saying this, which again characterizes Nate’s hubris. He minimizes things he does not understand or that do not fit into his idea that he is destined for greatness. The minute they support that idea, he believes them wholeheartedly.

“Today you will surpass all others.”

Nate’s ambiguous fortune drives his actions for the rest of the story. Despite the extremely vague fortune, Nate is certain that this proves he is destined for greatness. Despite evidence to the contrary, Nate’s tendency to believe the best is one of his most conflicting traits. Nate knows that fortune cookies are meaningless. But as soon as he has a fortune that supports the way he sees himself, he believes in it without reservation.

“It’s my FORTUNE that’s great. It looked like today was going to stink out loud, and now everything’s completely turned around.”

This quote shows another bit of irony. Nate’s day has not been bad at all. In fact, two things that he was worried about (having a social studies test and getting in trouble for running into Principal Nichols) did not happen. Though Nate missed breakfast and left his lunch at home, for the most part, this does not seem like a terrible day. This also serves as foreshadowing because Nate’s day is going to completely turn around, just not in the ways he expected.

“I stuff Mrs. Godfrey’s detention slip deep into my pocket. I’m not going to let one little detention ruin my whole day. Especially not after I got such an awesome fortune.”

Nate’s optimism is one of his best character traits. He is extremely resilient and moves on from setbacks with surprising speed. However, it also shows how Nate rarely learns from mistakes. He is not looking back on how he can avoid further detentions. He just moves full speed ahead.

“It’s not like he’s a major butthead or anything. I just hate that he’s so GOOD at stuff—all the same stuff I’M good at. It’s so obnoxious.

Things were a lot better before Artur came along.”

Artur is a foil for Nate, though Nate does not realize it. Nate believes that he is extremely talented at several things, but in some cases, he lacks any talent at all. Artur is legitimately skilled in all the things that Nate thinks he is skilled in. Nate’s inability to understand the difference in skill between himself and Artur is one of Nate’s core weaknesses. While it is impressive that Nate does not let the negative keep him down, his complete lack of self-awareness leads to many of his problems.

“I’m like can we just move on?

Then I hear it. Nobody else does, but I do.

‘Snort.’

Gina laughs.

I shoot her a look. She’s leaning back in her chair. She’s got a nasty little smile on her face. Here I am looking like a fool in front of everyone—in front of JENNY—and Gina’s loving every minute. SHE made this happen. This is her fault. The blood is pounding in my head. Ms. Clarke is saying something. I can barely hear her.

‘Well, Nate? What does your heart tell you?’

What does my heart tell me?

It tells me…

‘THAT GINA SHOULD KEEP HER BIG FAT MOUTH SHUT!!’”

This section is a large departure from Nate’s typical personality. Nate rarely lets negatives get to him and moves on quickly from setbacks. This scene, however, shows how vulnerable Nate can be. He is genuinely upset and bitter toward Gina despite generally being a happy-go-lucky character. This gives Nate more dimension and makes him more sympathetic as a character.

“‘How come I get detention and GINA gets NOTHING?’

‘Gina never gets in trouble,’ Francis says matter-of-factly. ‘She gets other people in trouble.’”

This quote demonstrates how little autonomy Nate has over his life. While he should not have yelled at Gina, he was provoked. Yet no one is interested in listening to his side of the story. Gina has more self-control, so she does not get into trouble. Yet Nate was legitimately wronged, and not only is he punished, but there is also no restitution from the one who wronged him.

“Teddy takes the detention slip and reads out loud: ‘Reason for detention: being disruptive in class, insulting a classmate.’

Francis nods. ‘You WERE pretty insulting.’

‘Are you kidding?’ I say. ‘That was NOTHING! I can be WAY more insulting than THAT!’”

This quote foreshadows a key point later when Nate is distressed because he did not get his money’s worth. If Nate wanted to insult Gina, he would have been far meaner than he was. This misunderstanding will continue throughout Nate’s day. He is not trying to be disruptive, but that is the result. He never gets to explain himself.

“‘And look who’s in the spotlight!’

‘AGAIN?’ I blurt out. ‘This is the second month in a row he’s been in the center panel!’

‘Well, you have to admit,’ Teddy says, pressing against the glass, ‘it’s a pretty awesome drawing!’

‘It’s okay,’ I sniff.”

Once again, Artur appears as a comparison to Nate, showing how Nate is lacking even in the areas where he is skilled. Nate cannot even acknowledge Artur’s obvious talent and feels wronged because Artur’s work has been featured twice in a row. Also, this shows how Artur has one-upped Nate again. Artur’s art has surpassed all others, twice.

“LOOK at that! My drawing has it all. Action. Suspense. Potential bloodshed. This deserves to be in the spotlight just as much as ARTUR’s drawing! Time to file an official protest.

‘All right class, let’s…’

‘Mr. Rosa, I have a question about the display case.’

‘Nate, I don’t have time for frivolous requests right now.’”

First, Nate’s lack of self-awareness rears its head. Both Nate’s and Artur’s drawings are present in the text, and Artur’s is artistically better. Nate does not recognize this and tries to appeal to his teacher. Mr. Rosa, however, completely ignores Nate’s feelings and shuts him down before Nate can even ask. Nate’s feelings are completely invalidated, once again highlighting how little control he has over his world.

“I give Francis a look that means: If you’re REALLY my best friend, you’ll do this for me.

He gives ME a look that means: You’re a moron, but, hey, it’s your funeral.

Good ol’ Francis.

I ease over to the door. I wait for Francis to do his part.”

Nate lacks autonomy so he grasps for it wherever he can. This frequently leads to his making poor choices. Naturally, he wraps his friends into his poor choices. This demonstrates the reality of friendship. Francis knows Nate is about to do something ridiculous, but he will still help him.

“Teachers always say they’ll be happy if you just do your best. But when you TRY to do your best, they don’t LET you.

Something about that doesn’t add up.”

Nate is extremely bitter about not being able to finish his math quiz, but he makes a valid point. Once again, Nate demonstrates that he has minimal autonomy. He was legitimately trying his best but made the simple mistake of not seeing the back. Once again, no one listens to Nate’s side of the story. He is simply punished.

“‘This stupid fortune,’ I complain, crumpling the paper into a tiny ball, ‘has been nothing but trouble.’

‘…But for the REST of us, it’s been nonstop entertainment.’”

This passage, which comes from a conversation between Nate, Teddy, and others, shows that Nate has no sense of personal accountability. Nothing that has happened to him is due to his actions; it is the fault of the fortune. This also shows the reality of friendship. Perhaps Nate’s friends feel bad for him, but they do not hesitate to inform him that his struggles of the day have been their entertainment.

“‘If nobody’s ever seen him smile,’ Francis says as we head for the science lab, ‘how do you expect to make him LAUGH?’

‘Hey if anybody can do it, I can!’ I say. ‘I crack people up ALL THE TIME.’

‘Yeah, but not on purpose.’ Teddy chuckles.”

Once again, Nate’s hubris gets him into trouble. His expectation that he will be able to make Mr. Galvin laugh has no basis in Nate’s experience. Yet Nate does not doubt that he can make the teacher laugh. His friends point out that most of the time, when Nate makes people laugh, it is not intentional, but Nate does not hear them.

“I ended up with FIVE detentions that day. But I made sure Randy got what he deserved.

That’s what bugs me about all the detentions I got today: I didn’t get my money’s worth.”

Nate relates a story where he got blamed for another student’s actions and, knowing he was receiving detention for something he did not do, threw a pie into the student’s face. This gives an interesting insight into Nate’s personality. He does not mind detention if he feels he has earned it. The trouble is, he does not feel like he has earned these, which creates an internal conflict and a great deal of sadness in a generally happy character.