Holding Up The Universe

It is easy to cast Caroline Lushamp as one of the central antagonists of the novel and perhaps even its “villain.” Caroline is the counterpoint to Moses Hunt’s masculine representation of the high school bully. As the feminine representation, she more often devastates her targets through passive-aggressive behavior such as backhanded compliments and gossip. For much of the novel, she seems one-dimensional and shallow, desperately clinging to her good looks and social status as essential components of her identity. But this section provides the first view into Caroline as a complicated figure who carries her own burden, and readers see her insecurities as she confronts Jack about Libby. Caroline is preoccupied by Libby, and Jack comments, “She has been talking about Libby all night—at dinner, during the movie, on the ride home” (246-47). Caroline embodies Libby’s earlier comment about how “small” people resent “big” people. While Caroline may in fact find Libby’s physical size disgusting, it becomes increasingly apparent that what she truly resents is Libby’s big personality—namely, her flaunting of peer pressure. Just as Dusty highlights Jack’s insecurities, Libby forces Caroline to confront hers as well.

That is not to say that Libby is not flawed, too. When Libby opens her locker to all the notes that say, “You aren’t wanted,” she encounters a rare moment of weakness in which she fails to take the advice she gave to Iris only days earlier (251). This culminates in an outburst in which she questions her friend’s loyalty, asking Iris, “Why do you want to be my friend anyway? […] Is it because I make you feel less freakish by comparison?” (253). This moment demonstrates Libby’s vulnerability and defensiveness. Despite her characteristic resolve in the face of her peers’ taunts and bullying, Libby is not immune to the cruelties of high school socialization, nor is she completely secure in her own identity. In fact, in this moment of weakness, Niven shows that despite one’s best intentions, no one is ever completely secure in his or her identity—nor, perhaps, should he or shebe. Identities are fluid and changeable; people are not locked into any given identity;one’s identity changes as onegrows.

This growth becomes clear as Libby and Jack’s relationship begins to change. By the end of this section, they both know the truth aboutone another. Libby has confessed the history of her weight gain as well as her fears about having a brain hemorrhage like her mother; Jack has been open with Libby about his prosopagnosia. They begin to grow closer—and to become attracted to one another—because of their flaws. They connect with each other’s struggles, their mutual vulnerability revealing their true selves. Both Jack and Libby are growing into who they hope to be; personal growth will continue to be a powerful idea throughout the rest of Niven’s novel.