* contains some spoilers
I just finished the short story "Am I Blue?" by Bruce Coville. It's about a boy named Vincent who gets bullied by a boy named Butch Carrigan, because Butch thinks Vince is gay. But Vince isn't even sure of that himself. Vince meets his "fairy godfather" named Melvin who gives Vince gaydar, so that if a person is gay they will appear some shade of blue in Vince's eyes. The two main themes in this story is, one, to be who you are and not be afraid of it, and two, not to judge others for who they are or even who you think they are.
Almost everyone has been bullied in there life, whether it was because of the way you look, or the way you talk, or the way you dress, or act, or anything that might set you apart for the rest of you community , everyone has been bullied or has bullied someone else. Vince is being bullied by Butch and friends because they think Vince is gay. In the text Butch says, ' "You little fruit," he snarled. "I'll teach you to look at me!" '. Butch is uncomfortable and maybe he feels a little bit violated just because he views Vince different and therefore not a rightful member of the community, or society. I think it's absolutely okay to be gay, and it doesn't mean just because someone is gay you have to feel violated around them, and feel the need to "protect" your sexuality by bulling them into silence and fear of coming out, or fear of being around others. I think that a lot of people that are bulling people of that person's sexuality are just unwilling to accept that some people lead different lives then others, maybe some bullies are gay and afraid to accept the truth, like Butch who in the end turns out to be gay. But also in the beginning of the story Vince is afraid to accept the truth about himself. Vince isn't a bully but he's mad and confused at himself because he isn't sure if he's gay or not. When Vince meets his mentor Melvin, or "fairy godfather" like it says in the story, he doesn't want to believe anything Melvin tells him, Vince is always concerned about what people will say about him and what they think about him. When Vince and Melvin are walking together Vince says, "Do you have to walk like that?" He thinks Melvin looks to girly and is afraid that being near him will make people try to hurt both of them. When they go into a coffee shop to talk, Melvin winks at a guy in the coffee shop and Vince says, "I'm afraid he'll come over here and beat us up." I think Vince's main issue is an internal conflict, even though he does struggle with a person vs. society conflict, it's mostly him being afraid of who he thinks he is.
A second theme I noticed in "Am I Blue?" was don't judge others on who they are or who you think they are.Vince is scared of coming out and Melvin is trying to help him and teach about himself and the world around Vince. In the text Melvin says, "if gay people hadn't been forced to hide for so long, if we could just openly identify ourselves, there would be plenty of people you knew that you could ask for advice." I think that this means that society is just hiding from the truth that some people have different ways of living their lives, I think this is a "truth telling line" where Bruce Coville is really stating what he thinks and telling us a important themes in his story. People just judge each other so much that everyone is scared to show who they really are, or who they love. If we all just stopped judging and took a minuet to discover ourselves, maybe we'd realize all this bulling and hatred and fear, really isn't worth it. But i think some people are afraid that if they really look into themselves they won't like what they'll find, and what others will like just like Vince. It will take a long time for people to stop judging others and stop all the bulling and racism and sexism, but everyday we can help by helping to stop bulling in our schools, and standing up for people being picked on, or telling someone if we're being bullied, and start to be more accepting of gays, or anyone that may lead a different life then us.
In the story "Am I Blue?' by Bruce Coville, the two main themes of the story are to accept who you are and not to be afraid of it, and not to judge others for who they are and who you may think they are, because words hurt no matter what others say words can and do hurt. The main character in the book is confused about whether or not his is gay,and he gets bullied by the kids at his school. But he meets a fairy named Melvin who gives him gaydar, so Vince can see that there is a gay community all over America and that he's not alone. Vince sees how cruel and hypocritical people can be and are to gays in America. I think this story teaches readers not to judge and be accepting and respectful to gays and anyone who in this society is considered and outsider, because everyone deserves to have equal rights.
I just finished the short story "Am I Blue?" by Bruce Coville. It's about a boy named Vincent who gets bullied by a boy named Butch Carrigan, because Butch thinks Vince is gay. But Vince isn't even sure of that himself. Vince meets his "fairy godfather" named Melvin who gives Vince gaydar, so that if a person is gay they will appear some shade of blue in Vince's eyes. The two main themes in this story is, one, to be who you are and not be afraid of it, and two, not to judge others for who they are or even who you think they are.
Almost everyone has been bullied in there life, whether it was because of the way you look, or the way you talk, or the way you dress, or act, or anything that might set you apart for the rest of you community , everyone has been bullied or has bullied someone else. Vince is being bullied by Butch and friends because they think Vince is gay. In the text Butch says, ' "You little fruit," he snarled. "I'll teach you to look at me!" '. Butch is uncomfortable and maybe he feels a little bit violated just because he views Vince different and therefore not a rightful member of the community, or society. I think it's absolutely okay to be gay, and it doesn't mean just because someone is gay you have to feel violated around them, and feel the need to "protect" your sexuality by bulling them into silence and fear of coming out, or fear of being around others. I think that a lot of people that are bulling people of that person's sexuality are just unwilling to accept that some people lead different lives then others, maybe some bullies are gay and afraid to accept the truth, like Butch who in the end turns out to be gay. But also in the beginning of the story Vince is afraid to accept the truth about himself. Vince isn't a bully but he's mad and confused at himself because he isn't sure if he's gay or not. When Vince meets his mentor Melvin, or "fairy godfather" like it says in the story, he doesn't want to believe anything Melvin tells him, Vince is always concerned about what people will say about him and what they think about him. When Vince and Melvin are walking together Vince says, "Do you have to walk like that?" He thinks Melvin looks to girly and is afraid that being near him will make people try to hurt both of them. When they go into a coffee shop to talk, Melvin winks at a guy in the coffee shop and Vince says, "I'm afraid he'll come over here and beat us up." I think Vince's main issue is an internal conflict, even though he does struggle with a person vs. society conflict, it's mostly him being afraid of who he thinks he is.
A second theme I noticed in "Am I Blue?" was don't judge others on who they are or who you think they are.Vince is scared of coming out and Melvin is trying to help him and teach about himself and the world around Vince. In the text Melvin says, "if gay people hadn't been forced to hide for so long, if we could just openly identify ourselves, there would be plenty of people you knew that you could ask for advice." I think that this means that society is just hiding from the truth that some people have different ways of living their lives, I think this is a "truth telling line" where Bruce Coville is really stating what he thinks and telling us a important themes in his story. People just judge each other so much that everyone is scared to show who they really are, or who they love. If we all just stopped judging and took a minuet to discover ourselves, maybe we'd realize all this bulling and hatred and fear, really isn't worth it. But i think some people are afraid that if they really look into themselves they won't like what they'll find, and what others will like just like Vince. It will take a long time for people to stop judging others and stop all the bulling and racism and sexism, but everyday we can help by helping to stop bulling in our schools, and standing up for people being picked on, or telling someone if we're being bullied, and start to be more accepting of gays, or anyone that may lead a different life then us.
In the story "Am I Blue?' by Bruce Coville, the two main themes of the story are to accept who you are and not to be afraid of it, and not to judge others for who they are and who you may think they are, because words hurt no matter what others say words can and do hurt. The main character in the book is confused about whether or not his is gay,and he gets bullied by the kids at his school. But he meets a fairy named Melvin who gives him gaydar, so Vince can see that there is a gay community all over America and that he's not alone. Vince sees how cruel and hypocritical people can be and are to gays in America. I think this story teaches readers not to judge and be accepting and respectful to gays and anyone who in this society is considered and outsider, because everyone deserves to have equal rights.
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