42 pages • 1 hour read
Skinnybones
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Themes
Using Humor to Cope With Conflict
Throughout the novel, Alex uses humor to escape his problems, with varying degrees of success. The first instance takes place when Alex makes a mess in the kitchen and resolves “to get [his mom] to laugh the whole thing off” (5). Because he has honed his comedic skills for years, he has come to understand the power that it gives him in a range of awkward social situations. In this instance, his mom ends up “laughing so hard [that] she forg[ets] to punish [him] for lying” (10). Thus, the novel’s early scenes demonstrate that Alex’s humor often serves him well when he tries to resolve conflicts.
However, his ill-timed antics at school soon indicate that Alex’s use of comedy doesn’t always serve him well. When he first used humor to try to befriend T.J., he was met only with hostility, and his humor also grates on his teachers’ nerves, landing him in more trouble than if he had simply stayed quiet. Whether dealing with his peers or with the adults in his life, Alex often defaults to slapstick comedy or snarky comments to deflect attention and evade responsibility. While these tactics are sometimes effective, his lack of baseball skills serves as a recurring stumbling block, suggesting that humor is not an adequate substitute for natural talent in a given endeavor. In Chapter 6, for example, Alex finds himself trapped in a pitching contest with T.J., and this public display inevitably reveals his shortcomings in the sport. To deal with this conflict, Alex does his best to delay the contest through jokes, but despite his best efforts to get out of the contest with humor, he ultimately fails to solve this particular problem with comedy. Thus, Park indicates that humor is not always the best avenue for dealing with conflict.
Similarly, Alex learns important lessons about timing his humorous quips, and the novel’s climax represents a dramatic example of this concept when Alex uses humor at a key moment in the baseball game, startling T.J. by shouting “BOOGA BOOGA!” and causing him to miss a catch (101). Alex’s wacky outburst helps him to make his greatest baseball play ever, landing him on second base, but although his unorthodox use of humor is successful, the umpire’s decision to declare him “out” makes his victory short-lived at best. As he is unceremoniously ordered off the field, Alex must come to terms with the fact that his failed use of comedy has robbed him of his greatest baseball moment. Through this setback, Alex comes to understand that “[n]ot everything in life is a big joke” (106). In the end, Alex’s use of humor in the face of varying conflicts develops the idea that although humor can be an effective way of coping with conflict, it is not an appropriate response to every problem.
The Consequences of Lying
The idea that even modest examples of dishonesty will lead to unpleasant consequences is explored through Alex’s tendency to lie for the sake of laughs. This pattern of lying to gain attention traces back to his kindergarten experiences of show and tell, as Alex admits, “When I ran out of true things to tell, I started making them up” (13). These flashback scenes demonstrate that Alex uses lying as a way to make people laugh and test boundaries with authority figures. Another prime example occurs in the first chapter, when Alex lies about who spilled the Kitty Fritters, blaming the mess on Fluffy. However, his lie is flawed from the beginning, as his mom has taken Fluffy to the vet, and rather than atoning for his lie, Alex simply changes his story to blame one of the neighborhood cats instead. When Alex’s mom tells him, “You’re making a complete fool of yourself […] I mean, I’m actually embarrassed for you” (8), her comment recasts his behavior in a negative light, developing the idea that even low-stakes lies have consequences.
Accordingly, Alex’s lies cause increasing amounts of trouble for him as the novel progresses. In Chapter 4, he lies about his uniform size because he is too embarrassed to say that he wears a small, but this lie merely reinforces the issue, condemning him to a very public admission of his small stature when the uniforms are distributed. Alex’s coach informs Alex, “I ordered you a small. A large would eat you up and spit you out” (34), and Alex describes the incident as “one of the lowest moments of [his] life” (34). As the embarrassment of not getting to wear a large uniform leaves him distraught, he must reckon with the unpleasant consequences of his dishonesty.
However, rather than learning his lesson, Alex engages in even bigger lies to provoke his nemesis, T.J., and although Alex laments his inability to “keep [his] big mouth shut” (36), he persists in boasting about having “ONE OF THE BEST CURVE BALLS […] EVER SEEN” (37). Although this lie is so absurd that Alex’s friend laughs, T.J. challenges him to a pitching contest that Alex is doomed to lose. This event forces Alex to recognize that his own lies resulted in an even greater moment of humiliation. In fact, the entire novel can be interpreted as a gradual acceleration of comical untruths that compound Alex’s social problems, and it is only when he learns to take a more moderated approach to his humor that he finally finds some relief from these public moments of embarrassment. When he performs as poorly as he expects to during the pitching contest, he must come to terms with the fact that his embarrassing defeat in Chapter 6 is a direct consequence of his lying. His repeated public missteps convey the idea that dishonesty is an inherently immoral act that carries unforeseen consequences for the person who chooses to lie rather than simply telling the truth.
The Value of Talent Beyond Athleticism
As Alex struggles to come to terms with his lack of skill in baseball, Park uses the protagonists’ repeated defeats to advance the idea that it is important to value talents that transcend the world of athletics. Because Alex remains focused on the idea that he must persist in playing baseball, he continues to struggle with his self-esteem, and he misuses his comedy talents to get out of challenging moments rather than celebrating his knack for humor on its own merits. Throughout the novel, Alex battles with his own low self-esteem over his lack of athleticism, saying, “I’ve played Little League baseball for six years now. But to tell you the truth, I’m not exactly what you’d call a real good athlete. […] Basically, what I’m trying to say here is, I stink” (21). Because he is not as big or as skilled as the other kids on his team and on the various opposing teams, Alex allows his mediocre performance in baseball to take on an outsized role in his sense of identity, and he completely overlooks his other talents.
Alex’s negative feelings about baseball also stem from his environment, as he constantly compares himself to his loud, boastful classmate T.J., who makes it a point to publicize his own athletic feats in order to gain attention. In Chapter 3, when T.J. introduces himself and boasts about his baseball accomplishments, Alex’s teacher, Mrs. Grayson, exclaims over “how exciting” it is to have T.J. in the class, and Alex is repeatedly immersed in feelings of jealousy as T.J. gains widespread attention for his skill on the field and the special treatment that he receives from peers and adults alike. Thus, many of Alex’s insecurities stem from the fact that society itself has overemphasized athletic skill and fails to recognize other talents—like comedy—that are just as valuable in their own way. Because athleticism is praised and put on a pedestal, Alex concludes that he must be inadequate, as he is simply not as big or as athletic as his teammates and peers.
However, Park strategically reverses this pattern when Alex is finally rewarded for his zany approach to humor. When he writes the winning entry to the Kitty Fritters Television Contest, his triumph is made public just in time to keep him from bursting into discouraged tears over his failures at baseball. When the principal publicly announces, “We’re all very excited about having one of our students become a big TV star” (124), Park uses this moment to reverse Alex’s many public setbacks in a way that celebrates his unique talents and validates his skills. As a result, his self-confidence is boosted by this sudden attention and appreciation for his comedy, causing him to realize, “After all, I am an original. And I’m certainly crazy. […] What more could Hollywood want?” (126). Alex’s improved self-esteem in light of this praise for his comedic talents suggests that celebrating each child’s unique talents is a vital aspect of helping them to develop the self-esteem and confidence that they need to succeed in life.
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