Words on Bathroom Walls

Maya is Adam’s love interest. She’s short and slight of build, and Adam describes her as “pretty in an angry-hummingbird sort of way” (15). Maya has a natural disdain for most people because they feel fake, as if they are hiding things. Though Adam keeps his schizophrenia a secret from her for most of the book, she sees him as more open and honest than other people.

Maya’s mother works long hours at the hospital, while her father works odd jobs and takes care of Maya’s twin brothers. Maya is self-conscious of her family and their financial troubles. Like Adam, she puts up shields to keep people away so they won’t see how vulnerable she is.

Rebecca is one of Adam’s hallucinations. She is tall and pretty, with long blonde hair and expressive blue eyes. Rebecca is the hallucination Adam sees most, and in contrast to his harmful hallucinations, Rebecca is “sweet and never says a word” (9). At the end of the book, Adam and Maya agree Rebecca is a visual representation of Adam’s mind. Her reactions often match Adam’s, such as twirling or performing cartwheels when Adam feels good. Rebecca is also a manifestation of Adam’s insight and awareness. She often warns Adam before more dangerous hallucinations arrive and comforts him when he feels upset. Rebecca also alerts Adam to things he notices but doesn’t feel alarmed by: For instance, when he hears a splash in the pool, he is about to ignore it until Rebecca prods him into investigating, leading to him rescuing Maya from the water.

Overachiever Dwight is a friend Adam makes at St. Agatha’s. Dwight talks non-stop and “everything about him was blindingly white” (16). While Adam means this physically (Dwight has light skin, fair hair, and wears light-colored clothing), Dwight is also bright on the inside. Unlike Adam and Maya, Dwight doesn’t hold onto negative feelings from bad experiences; instead, he approaches each situation on a case-by-case basis. He sees things for what they are, rather than what they could be. After learning about Adam’s schizophrenia, Dwight still comes over for Monday night tennis as if nothing has changed—to him, Adam is still Adam.

Ian, another student at St. Agatha’s, is Adam’s antagonist. Ian is a “collector of information” (14) about other people, hiding his own insecurities by exposing the insecurities of others. When Ian happens to witness Adam’s breakdown, he records it and plays the video to embarrass Adam and out him as a danger. Adam’s subsequent trip to the hospital and recovery make Ian realize mental illness is most dangerous to the one dealing with the disease.

Rupert and Basil are a hallucination that appears when Adam feels trapped. The pair represents Adam’s anger and sarcasm: Their dialogue consists of Adam’s mean thoughts, as seen during the Knights of Columbus assembly. When Adam submits his seven-word essay to the Knights of Columbus contest, Rupert and Basil’s approval shows that Adam has come to terms with this hallucination and with his feelings of powerless.

At the beginning of the book, Adam’s stepfather Paul fears Adam’s illness because he doesn’t understand it. Unlike Ian, however, Paul chooses to work past his fear and to help Adam. Paul’s letter to Adam’s school following the shooting in Connecticut represents Paul’s change from fear to understanding. By the end of the book, Paul recognizes his bias and steps into the role of protector for Adam.

Adam worries a lot about his mom. While schizophrenia presents Adam with its own challenges, Adam struggles most with the knowledge that his illness affects his mother. Her pregnancy shows her changing attitude towards Adam: Deciding to have a baby means she believes Adam isn’t dangerous and doesn’t need her undivided attention. She now knows Adam can have an independent, productive life.

The Mob Boss is the leader of the hallucinatory gangster group. The Boss represents what Adam doesn’t want to deal with: admitting schizophrenia is a part of him, not something that he can separate out. Throughout the book, Adam tries to convince himself his hallucinations aren’t real. However, though they aren’t happening in the shared reality, they are part of Adam’s world, which makes them real to him. The Boss challenges Adam’s desire to wish the schizophrenia away. When Adam understands that he must learn to live with his illness, the Boss stops antagonizing him.