Kara Williams

EDCI 5334
November 27, 2017
Wonder Reflection
The cinematic feature, Wonder, revolves around the life of fifth grader, August (Auggie)

Pullman, played by Jacob Tremblay. The movie is separated into different points of view of

everyone that is important in Auggies life. All of the characters have an important role and key

story. Auggie feels like he is an ordinary kid, just like everybody else. Except for the fact he

suffers from the disability, Treacher Collins Syndrome, which this disability effects the

development of bones and other facial tissues therefore, causing Auggies face to look different

than everyone else. In the movie, it shows all of his hospital bracelets from every surgery pinned

on his wall. Later, we find out that Auggie has gone through 27 different plastic surgeries.

Auggie likes wearing an astronaut helmet because he can hide from the world and feel normal.

Auggie has never gone to a normal school like all of the other kids his age. He has been

homeschooled by his mother and is now about to be enrolled in a public school. Auggie would

not have any special accommodations, just a normal boy going to a normal school. His family

has different views of the situation. Auggie, first and foremost, is terrified and excited all at the

same time. His mother, Isabel Pullman, played by Julia Roberts, knows it is whats best for him

but is scared of how the other kids will react. His father, Nate Pullman, played by Owen Wilson,

feels the same way as his wife. Olivia (Via) Pullman, Auggies sister, played by Izabel Vidovic,

was nervous for him but was very supportive.

Before Auggies first day of school the principal, Mr. Tushman, played by Mandy

Patinkin, set up a school tour with three of the schools finest students to show him around. The

three students were Charlotte, played by Elle McKinnon, Julian, played by Bryce Gheisar, and
Jack Will, played by Noah Jupe. During the tour, Charlotte, Julian and Jack seemed hesitant and

careful while talking with Auggie. Later on in the tour, Julian showed his true colors by asking

Auggie invasive questions and making snide comments about Auggies intelligence levels.

Charlotte felt extremely uncomfortable but Jack Will stood up for Auggie and told Julian to stop.

Jack Will and Auggie, later on, hit it off at school and end up becoming best friends. Summer,

played by Millie Davis, is another one of Auggies classmates that becomes one of his close

friends.

Mr. Browne, played by Daveed Diggs, is Auggies homeroom teacher and one of

Auggies first impressions of his first day of public school. When the students walked into his

classroom, Mr. Browne had a precept on the board. The precept read, If you have the choice of

being right or being kind, choose kind. The precept set the tone for how he expects and wants

the children to treat each other in school. This couldnt have been more perfect for Auggies first

day of school and first impression. Mr. Browne asked each of the students to stand up and tell

the class two things about themselves that they want their classmates to know. Julian, soon to be

Auggies arch nemesis, volunteered to speak first in front of the class. Auggie, soon after, shared

three different things about himself. He was so brave to stand up and share! Later on, at lunch,

Auggie was sitting by himself at the lunch table. Jack Will approached the table and decided to

eat lunch with him. This sparked a friendship that would stand the test of time. His science

teacher was also extremely supportive of Auggie. All of the staff that worked with Auggie were

very supportive and pushed him to be the best he could be.

The movie was separated into different sections. Each section was a story told by a

character that was close to Auggie. The character would introduce themselves and tell how they
were close to Auggie and how they became that way. Auggie, Via, Jack Will, and Miranda all

had different points of view about Auggie and the whole story.

Vias story, in the movie, starts out explaining that she is used to her world revolving

around Auggie. She also explains shes okay with it, most of the time. She explains the only

person who ever understood her was her grandma, who had passed away. You can tell she

misses her very much because she could talk to her and her grandmother would always listen.

Via believes in Auggie but she can also snap him back to reality. When Auggie discovers his

best friend, Jack Will, was talking negatively about him, he was really upset and didnt want to

talk to anyone. Via went into his room and told him to snap out of it and convinced him to go

trick-or-treating as opposed to sitting around the house. Via doesnt treat him like his is

breakable and I think Auggie appreciates that about her. Via talks about her best friend, Miranda

and how excited she is for the first day of school so they can catch up. Come to find out,

Miranda had been ignoring Via the last couple weeks of summer leading up to the return of

school. When Via got to school, Miranda had a new hairdo and was had another group of friends

to hang out with. Via was discouraged at first, but then met a guy, who ends up being her

boyfriend, named Justin. Via joins the school thespian group and is in a play at the end of the

film.

Jack Will is another main part of Auggies story. Jack becomes Auggies best friend. As

I mentioned before, Jack was a part of the group tour before Auggies first day of school and

stood up for Auggie when he was being rudely questioned by Julian. In Jacks point of view, the

viewers find out how sympathetic he is as a person and just how kind his heart is. He mentioned

four things about Auggie after he got to know his personality. The first thing he mentions is,

you do get used to his face. (Palacio, 142) He is meaning, after a while the look of his face
just becomes normal. The second thing is, hes actually a really cool dude. (Palacio, 142)

He mentions how comical he is and how he makes him laugh. Thirdly, hes really smart.

(Palacio, 142) Auggie would let Jack Will copy his work in class sometimes when he could tell

Jack was struggling. Jack really appreciated his kindness and friendship. And lastly Jack will

says, now that I know him, I would say I actually do want to be friends with August.

(Palacio, 143) Jack also said, Like, if all of the guys in the fifth grade were lined up against a

wall and I got to choose anyone I wanted to hang out with, I would choose August. (Palacio,

143) I know these quotes are from the book, Wonder, but he says the same four things in the

movie. Jack and Auggie have a rough patch in their friendship around Halloween because Jack

had a moment of weakness. Jack Will was surrounded by Julian and the popular kids and he

said some hateful things about Auggie he mentions he never meant. Auggie heard him talk

badly about him and stopped being his friend. This was a major conflict in the story, seeing as

Jack Will was one of Auggies first friends at school. Jack was devastated but tried to act like it

didnt bother him. Later on, he figures out why Auggie is mad at him and he apologizes. Not

before he punches Julian in the face, for saying mean things about Auggie, and gets suspended

from school.

Later, viewers find out, through Mirandas view of the story, that Miranda was having

family troubles at home. She went to summer camp and made up a long story about how her

brother is deformed. Turns out she was describing her life is Vias life, lying to everybody.

Miranda had been a part of Auggies life for a long time. She was the person who gave Auggie

his astronaut helmet that he loved so much!

Julian is another important part of the story because he is the antagonist in the story. He

is a typical bully. He is a privileged, young man who targets Auggie for the majority of the year.
He makes snide, rude comments about him behind his back and to his face. He leaves Auggie

mean notes and drawings in his locker and sometimes gives them to Auggie. When all of the

evidence is brought to the principal, Mr. Tushmans, attention Julian and his parents are called

into a meeting. Come to find out, Julians parents are just as deceitful as Julian. Julians mother

even photo shopped Auggie out of the class photo. Julian is punished for his actions and is not

allowed to go on the fifth grade trip at the end of the year.

Toward the end of the film, the whole fifth grade class goes on an overnight trip. During

the trip, some seventh graders try to pick a fight with Auggie and Jack. Some of the popular kids

in Auggies grade come to the rescue and stand up to the seventh graders giving Auggie and Jack

enough time to run off. During that moment, Auggie finally felt included and accepted by

everyone at his school. When Auggie started to get emotional, the popular kids put their arm

around Auggie, comforting him. At the end of the year awards, Auggie was awarded the

Beecher award. This award represents a student who has shown bravery and courage. This was

the icing on the cake for Auggie. He received a standing ovation as he climbed the stage to

accept his award. In this moment, everyone was so proud.

The main message of this story, is choose kindness. We can always be kinder to our

neighbor and anyone we come in contact with. Another message that this story entails is, dont

be afraid to be in the skin you are in. No one is just like you, so be different and dont be

ashamed. This story hits home with me, as an educator, because bullying is a huge issue we deal

with in schools and always has been an issue. I always promote kindness in my classroom and

try to model that behavior for my students. At our school, we have a mentoring program

between the 8th graders and 7th graders. The 8th graders will go into the 7th grade classrooms and

help with peer tutoring. Some of my 8th graders love to go in and help with the adapted P.E. class
during the school day. They love to hang out with the students who have special needs because

they dont get to see them throughout the day. That is their time to bond with those incredible

students. My brother-in-law is a 7th grader in Arkansas, but when he was in 5th grade he started a

service project at school called, The Buddy Benches. The school raised enough money to have

benches installed outside by the playground. The point of the Buddy Bench was if a kid didnt

have anyone to play with, they would go to the Buddy Bench and that was everyones cue to go

hang out with them and get to know them. It sparked an interest in all of the schools in his

district to the point where every school installed a Buddy Bench. It was amazing to see how

kind young children can be. This book/movie is a must read and see, in my opinion. I know

some schools are even taking their students on field trips to attend this movie. It really opened

my eyes and brought me to tears throughout the movie.

 References
Palacio, R. J. Wonder. London: Doubleday, 2012.
The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, 2009. Web.
29 Oct. 2009. <http://www.imdb.com/>