Part 6- August

"'Why is everyone standing up?' I said. 'It's a standing ovation,' said Mom getting up. So I clapped and clapped. I clapped until my hands hurt. For a second, I imagined how cool it would be to be Via and Justin right then, having all these people standing up and cheering for them. I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives."- Wonder pg. 231

THE WAR is still going on but now it's starting to lose energy.  Or maybe it's not that it's losing energy, but that Auggie and Jack just don't care anymore because they have each other to lean on.  More and more people are starting to treat Auggie like a normal kid, because they're finally realizing how silly this whole charade is.  It upset me that it took them so long to change their minds, but I'm glad they finally did.

And then Auggie has to get hearing aids. I can't imagine how I would feel about that. Here he is FINALLY getting used to things in school, and people are FINALLY starting to accept him for who he is, and then he starts to lose his hearing.  Why can't he ever catch a break?

I admire the doctor he goes to see though.  He tells Auggie that the hearing aid strap makes him look like Lobot, a pretty cool character from Star Wars. I wish more doctors could connect with kids like this. If I was August's mom I would've been very grateful to have such a kind doctor.

 

And the best part is the kids at school didn't even bother him about the hearing aids.  Here he was all worked up about nothing! I probably would've been worked up too. That's a pretty big change to have to go through so young. But once he put the hearing aids on and could hear, he didn't care what the kids where going to say anyways, because he could finally hear clearly. 

I kind of feel like this moment in the book is sort of this "A-HA" moment.  Auggie's all stressed out over something and he doesn't want to do something for a silly reason (such as getting made fun of at school), and then he puts the hearing aids on, hears the world clearly for the first time, and realizes who the hell cares what they think, some things are more important in life. 

Shortly after this he has another moment of clarity when he realizes why exactly Via didn't share with her parents that she was going to be a part of her school production.  This turns into Auggie accusing his mom of lying and yelling at Via for being ashamed of him.  Auggie storms out in a rage and makes a little cave of stuffed animals, but this time no one comes to baby him.

Prepare for the saddest part of any book I've ever read...

Via comes flying into Auggies room and tells him Daisy is sick. That gut wrenching moment of clarity hits Auggie once again and he realizes there are once again more important things in life.  If you've ever had a dog or a cat or any kind of pet, you'll understand how emotional this whole ordeal is. 

I have a dog named Daisy too, so I had an especially long blubber fest over this moment in the book. Once again Via shows her strength and kindness towards her little brother, and I envy their relationship. 

 (My Daisy)

 

So a few days later Via brings the tickets home and they all decide they're going to go see Via even though she's just an understudy.  I think this shows how strong their family is.  Even after this huge fight, and losing someone who meant so much to their family, they realize how much they mean to each other.  They're stronger because of it. To have love like that, truly is one of the most amazing things in the world. And in that moment I realized I was jealous of Auggie Pullman.

He may not have won the lottery when it came to good looks, but he definitely won when it came to what really mattered. And what really matters isn't how you look, it's the people who surround you with love and affection no matter what. That's the true beauty in life.