Blubber

On Halloween, Wendy comes to school in a queen costume, complete with a robe, a crown, and a fur scarf. This costume symbolizes how Wendy resembles the Queen Bee trope among her peers. Wendy has no problem ordering her classmates around and, in Jill’s words, “[acting] like she owns the whole world” (157). Jill stresses Wendy’s power after their incident with Linda in the bathroom, saying, “Everybody knows you don’t cross Wendy” (41).

The queen costume also emboldens Wendy to act out her role as queen while bullying Linda. In the bathroom, Linda refers to herself as “Her Majesty, Queen Wendy” (40) and forces Linda to curtsy and lick her foot. Wendy also orders Jill and Caroline to do her bidding by restraining and stripping Linda. It is clear from how Jill, Caroline, and Linda respond to Wendy that they see her as a powerful person they do not wish to upset. This is hinted early on when Jill smiles at Wendy’s letter about Linda “because Wendy was watching me” (5).

Wendy’s role as queen persists throughout most of the book, but by the final chapter, Wendy and Caroline have broken up as friends, and Wendy has moved on to Laurie.