Blubber

The theme of breaking habits is first introduced through Jill’s love of stamps and is explored through Jill’s nail-biting and Jill’s mom’s smoking. Jill and Tracy are “practically professional stamp collectors” (13). Jill has an album she’s very proud of, and she excitedly checks the mail every day for word from her stamp companies. In Chapter 2, Jill introduces a deal she made with her father: if she can refrain from biting her nails until Christmas, several months away, he will give her $25 to spend at the stamp department at Gimbels, “which has the best stamp department in the whole world” (13). Jill works hard to keep this deal going “even though it’s just about killing” her (13). During the announcement for most original costume, Jill sits on her hands to prevent herself from chewing her nails. She proudly shows them to her dad several times, knowing she has a reward coming. However, when Jill ends up being Wendy’s next target, she crumbles under the stress. She bites her nails from the dread and anxiety of being bullied by her peers. At dinner, she bites her nails in front of her family. Dad reminds her of their deal, but Jill is so stressed that she has no response. Once Jill manages to get control of the situation at school with her bullies, Jill doesn’t “bite [her] nails once that afternoon or night” (179). She asks her dad if their deal is still on while showing off her fingers. Dad says the deal is still on, and Jill responds that she thinks she “can make it this time” (180). Because Jill was able to get to the root cause of her stress, she regained control of her bad habit and could continue to pursue her stamp reward.

Jill’s mom has a similar struggle with smoking cigarettes. Each time Mom smokes around Jill, Jill reminds her that “smoking is dangerous to your health” (18) or “smoking causes cancer and heart disease” (27). Each time Mom is reminded of the repercussions, she puts out her cigarette. However, stress impacts Mom’s smoking habit the same way it impacts Jill’s nail-biting. When Mom realizes Jill has painted her new boots and isn’t certain whether the paint is washable, she lights another cigarette, despite having just put one out. Mom resolves to quit for good after seeing Jill’s progress with her nail-biting habit. However, in Chapter 8, Jill catches Mom smoking in the bathroom. Mom expresses that she “really needed one this morning” (81) and has “a very busy day coming up” (82). Mom consoles Jill saying she promised she’d try and that she is still trying. After this incident, Mom improves her response to stress. When the Brenners loudly enter Warren Winkler’s bar mitzvah in the middle of Warren's Hebrew prayer, Jill spots a “funny look on [Mom’s] face” (122) and recognizes that it means she wants a cigarette. Despite this, Jill never catches Mom smoking again. Once Mom learned to react to stress properly, she could break her smoking habit to benefit her health.

The immediate effect of stress on people fighting bad habits is evidenced by Jill’s quick return to biting her nails, despite knowing there’s a reward, and Jill’s mom’s impulse to smoke at stressful times. They both managed to control their reaction to stress and get back in control of their habits.