Bystander

“Griffin had a way about him, a certain kind of natural leadership that Eric respected. Words came easily to Griffin, his smile was bright and winning. Eric felt almost envious. Griffin seemed to possess a quality he lacked, a presence.”

At first, Griffin Connelly’s charm and self-confidence impress Eric. However, he soon learns that Griffin uses these qualities, those of a natural born leader, to get away with bullying students who are weaker than him.

“The ball, Eric. […] You don’t mind if I keep it for a while, do you? As a souvenir?”

This scene foreshadows one of Griffin’s favored bullying tactics—stealing from his targets, often under the guise of friendship. Taking something that a victim values and keeping it as a souvenir reminds him of his power over them.

“He made these random CDs, mostly filled with classic rock, stuff like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bob Dylan and the Allman Brothers, music the dinosaurs used to listen to back in the Jurassic, songs he felt Eric might like.”

Eric turns to music as an emotional refuge from loneliness and other hardships. Despite fighting his own battle with schizophrenia, Eric’s absent father still manages to provide his son with something of value. Eric’s feelings regarding his father range from missing him to resenting his abandonment.

“But here in the lunchroom, there was no avoiding the reality that Eric didn’t have a single friend in town. He was alone and he didn’t want to be.”

Early on, Eric feels the isolation of being a new student. His loneliness makes him vulnerable to the charms of Griffin, who sees the newcomer sitting alone and invites him to join his group. At this point, Eric doesn’t realize that their relationship will become toxic because of Griffin’s bullying.

“Griffin did not show any expression. There was no emotion there. His face was battered and blank. His eyes, cold.”

Griffin walks into the cafeteria with a black eye from his drunk father. Griffin’s usual self-confidence and smile are gone. This chapter reveals Griffin to be a victim of bullying himself and poses the question of whether bullying is socially contagious or perhaps inherited (i.e., learned from a parent).

“Through it all, Eric didn’t say a word. He was innocent, Eric reminded himself, he never participated in the pranks. He never lifted a finger to harm David Hallenback. He didn’t think it was funny, so he usually walked away, pretending not to see. But Eric did see. Just like all the other kids in the halls. And he slowly began to recognize it for what it was. Terrorism in jeans.”

Up to this point, Eric has been a bystander to Griffin’s bullying like many other students. However, he is beginning to realize that doing nothing makes him a silent accomplice—and it weighs on his conscience. At the end of the chapter, he thinks to himself, “I’m just as bad as the rest of them” (86).

“When you think about it, Eric, we’re all basically animals. […] I mean, come on, you’ve seen those nature shows on television. Hallenback is like the sick gazelle in the herd, limping along. The one that gets eaten. It’s not fair, but that’s life. I don’t make the rules.”

Griffin uses an animal metaphor to justify his bullying of David Hallenback, someone weaker, claiming his actions are simply a part of the natural order of the world. Not only is this mindset overly simplistic, but it relieves Griffin of culpability, of having to examine himself and his actions.

“Mr. Floyd said there were four types of bullying: verbal, physical, intimidation, and indirect bullying.”

Indirect bullying includes spreading lies, rumors, and gossip. Eric is a victim of indirect bullying when someone makes a false report to school officials about him having a knife in his locker. The lie results in Eric’s lockers being searched. Griffin was behind the lie, but Eric suspects he recruited David Hallenback to make the report.

“Think for yourself! […] It doesn’t matter what other people do. You have to look into your own heart.”

Mr. Scofield, an English teacher, challenges his students to think for themselves instead of passively following those who perpetuate bullying and greater acts of violence. He cites World War II, in which German soldiers participated in the atrocities of the Holocaust because they were afraid or reluctant to stand up to those in charge.

“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Mr. Scofield points out that not speaking out against bullying enables it. A good person, a good friend, must have the courage to speak out, even if it is difficult.

“Griffin had removed the mask; the wolf stepped out from beneath sheep’s clothing and revealed himself, gnashing teeth, showing his claws.”

This quote uses an animal metaphor to illustrate Griffin’s deceitful nature. His bullying has escalated to the point where he doesn’t care if Eric knows he is a thief.

“Alexis and the others posted a page on the Web. They sent e-mails out to a ton of people, linking to the page. It had all these horrible pictures of Chantel and it read, ‘Ten reasons why Chantel Williams is a fat...’”

A cruel girl named Alexis and her friends cyberbully fellow student Chantel Williams by attacking her appearance—something adolescents are often sensitive about.

“Bullies. […] Why do we stand around and let it happen? […] Like the other day with Griffin and David. Why didn’t we do anything to stop it?”

Eric questions the bystander effect during a conversation with Griffin’s friends, which makes him a threat to Griffin’s power. Griffin has already stolen one of Eric’s CDs and will go on to have him beat up (with the compliance of Cody and David Hallenback) and his bike stolen as punishment for this transgression.

“There’s always going to be some guys who take a pounding. That’s life. What do they call it in science? Natural selection.”

One of Griffin’s friends, Drew P., echoes his leader’s justification for bullying. In pointing out that only the strong survive in the animal world, Drew P. is making an argument for the strong dominating the weak—while ignoring the ethical and moral differences that set human society apart from the animal world.

 “As they walked, Eric wondered what it could be that Hallenback wanted to show him. Something he found? A note? A photograph? Then the thought struck him—a weapon of some sort? A knife? A gun? Isn’t that what happens when kids get picked on too much? Sometimes they can’t take it anymore. And they break.”

This is one of two passages in which Eric worries that bullying could push Hallenback toward violence. In an earlier chapter, Hallenback extended his index finger and thumb in the shape of a gun and pointed at Eric, as if firing. Although he never obtains a gun or any other weapon, Hallenback does end up kicking a fallen Eric after Cody beats him, despite Eric never doing anything to him except offer advice.

“The others murmured, disturbed and excited. It was a chilling display of pure animal violence. And it thrilled them.”

The bullying in the novel often occurs when either Griffin or one of his friends has an audience. In this case, Cody beats up Eric in the pet cemetery. An animal metaphor is used to capture the brutality of the incident.

“People are going to talk, you and me sitting together.’ […] ‘Let ‘em. […] I’m so tired of what other people think.’”

This conversation between Eric and Mary shows how the latter has embraced English teacher Mr. Scofield’s advice to think for herself. She has clearly rejected the groupthink that enables bullying.

“Hallenback is a puppy. […] He’d jump off a bridge for me.”

Griffin’s comment about David Hallenback is one of many animal metaphors in the novel. It articulates how those who follow leaders without question are like trained dogs, doing what they are told. Despite being bullied, Hallenback still allows Griffin to use him because of his desire to be accepted (and his fear of more bullying).

“Your father doesn’t want you—and who could blame him. You’re just a loser.”

As a bully, Griffin knows how to provoke his targets. He knows Eric’s father and his abandonment are sensitive subjects.

“Eric listened to him with something close to amazement. When Cody talked about forks and brake cables and Ford Mustang carburetors, he was like a different person. A happier, more confident one.”

Cody speaks to some bullies’ ability to reform. When Cody returns Eric’s bike and offers to fix it, it is a turning point in the effort to defang Griffin. The scene also shows the power of hobbies and interests in providing healthy outlets. Eric’s passions are basketball and music, while Cody’s are bikes and cars.

“It had been her contention that their table would soon be filled with Misfit Toys—jack-in-the-boxes named Bruce, trucks with square wheels, boys who were too frail and skinny, girls whose looks didn’t make the cut.”

The cafeteria is the hub of social acceptance and rejection at school. Those who don’t conform to the norm (in terms of being conventionally attractive) are cast out. However, Mary suggests that these “misfit toys” are slowly forming their own group.

"David glanced down at the pin. It was in the shape of a baseball stadium. He shot a quick glance at Griffin, looked up at Eric. ‘I lent it to somebody. He finally gave it back this morning.’”

When Griffin returns David Hallenback’s baseball pin, which he had been keeping as one of his “souvenirs,” it indicates that he is at least mitigating his bullying. However, he ultimately remains an unrepentant and unpunished character.

“He thought about Griffin Connelly. They never talked anymore, never spoke of Eric’s theft, or Griffin’s new sneakers. It was like they made a silent pact. Somehow it was all wiped clean, like chalk from a blackboard.”

After Eric sneaks into Griffin’s house and retrieves his stolen items, Griffin stops bullying him. Griffin was likely impressed that Eric had the nerve to do what he did. Since bullies often respect strength (due to intimidation being the source of their own power), Griffin leaves Eric in peace. Perhaps, this is also due to him having Eric’s sneakers, a souvenir of their past friendship and his later bullying.