Wayside School is Falling Down

“‘How come Dameon always gets to do everything?’ griped Kathy.

‘I’m sorry, Kathy,’ said Mrs. Jewls. ‘Would you like to pass back the homework?’

‘No!’ grumped Kathy. ‘I’m not your slave.’”

Kathy’s quick contradiction of her own point is part of a series of jokes in which characters immediately reverse their own stated expectations. This pattern underscores The Importance of Embracing Life’s Absurdities and adds to the text’s humorous tone. This particular incident also serves to establish Kathy’s reputation as a student with a particularly negative attitude, and this trait becomes more comically exaggerated as the stories progress.

“‘Man, it’s unfair,’ said Mac. ‘Mrs. Jewls assigns more homework than any other teacher in Wayside School.’”

Mac’s complaint is ironic because he is the main reason that Mrs. Jewls’s students have so much homework, for he often interrupts the daily lessons with tangential stories and distractions. His inability to see that his own behavior is the cause of his increased homework assignments contributes to the text’s portrayal of life’s absurdities.

“‘But don’t go in the basement,’ warned Sherie.”

Sherie’s warning about the basement echoes several earlier statements in previous stories, and when taken together, these collective admonitions create a sense of ominous mystique about the basement, especially given that no one ever explains why the basement is to be avoided. This repetition is typical of the book’s humorous approach, and the scene also serves as foreshadowing for the upcoming story “Freedom,” in which Myron will venture into the school basement.

“This time your pigtails pulled me.”

Paul’s quip after Leslie uses her pigtails to save him from a 30-story fall is characteristic of the book’s humor. Because he is widely known for his habit of pulling Leslie’s pigtails, his comment creates a deliberate reversal of expectations and functions as the story’s ironic punchline. Paul has often pulled Leslie’s pigtails, and now that he has finally stopped, the pigtails end up pulling him to safety.

“He was a black bird with a pink breast. Myron had named him ‘Oddly.’ Myron had named him oddly.”

Sachar’s wordplay in this passage is another example of the book’s use of comic repetition. The antanaclasis in which the meaning of “oddly” changes points out that both the bird and Myron are equally strange. This approach contributes to the book’s thematic focus on Celebrating Individuality and Nonconformity.

“It warmed her heart to see how much they liked her food.”

Miss Mush has this thought as she watches the children lining up in the cafeteria. Her effusive but misguided opinion of her own cooking creates the expectation that the children will order food from Miss Mush, but in fact, child after child just asks for milk. This reversal of expectations becomes even more comical when the narrator reveals that no one except Louis the Yard Teacher ever orders her food.

“Joy bonged her bongos. D.J. gonged his gong. Sharie glockened her glockenspiel.”

Sachar creates the verbs “bonged,” “gonged,” and “glockened” from the names of the instruments that the students are playing. These neologisms create a playful and humorous tone that underscores the chaos of the scene.

“D.J. held the piece of black construction paper under his nose, because his smile was so bright.”

Sachar comically conflates the idiomatic use of “bright” with the literal use of “bright.” D.J. shields his smile during class movies so that the brightness of his smile will not make it difficult for others to see the film. The idea that this ridiculous action is just a normal part of the class routine supports The Importance of Embracing Life’s Absurdities.

“Rondi threw the chewed-up pencil out the window. It hit Louis on the head.”

The physical humor of this moment lightens the tone of this story. A pencil being thrown out of the window of Mrs. Jewls’s classroom is also a running joke, alluding to the pencils thrown out of this window in the collection’s first story, “A Package for Mrs. Jewls.”

“The last book Mrs. Jewls had read was a story about a pig and a spider. The pig was real cute and the spider was very wise.”

Sachar’s reference to a story about a pig and a spider is an allusion to E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, a text commonly read to young students. This allusion comically reduces the emotionally rich text of E.B. White’s classic story to a “real cute” pig and a “very wise” spider, highlighting the fact that younger audiences do not always catch the full nuances of a story. By extension, it can be inferred that Sachar’s own series of stories contains deeper messages for those who can discern them.

“‘You’re so lucky, Calvin,’ said Rondi. ‘I wish I could get a tattoo too! Instead I got a tutu.’

‘I got a tutu too,’ said Dana.”

Using the words and phrases “tattoo too,” “tutu,” and “tutu too” in rapid succession creates a comical barrage of wordplay. By juxtaposing Calvin’s proposed tattoo with the much more child-appropriate gift of a tutu, Sachar also underscores how inappropriate the tattoo is as a birthday present for an elementary-aged child.

“‘She once made me put gum on my nose, because I was chewing it in class.’

‘How can you chew your nose?’ asked Deedee.”

Deedee’s comic misunderstanding of Louis’s story is typical of the wordplay that Sachar uses to create a humorous tone. The placement of this joke just before the narrator reveals the second set of footprints beneath the monkey bars creates an abrupt shift in tone that underscores the ominous nature of the ghostly footprints, which are implied to belong to the hostile Mrs. Gorf.

“‘If I gave my piece of chalk to someone, then I wouldn’t have it anymore. But when I give my love to someone, I end up with more love than I started with.”

Mrs. Jewls’s explanation to Dameon is both wise and compassionate, and her guidance demonstrates why most of her students think she is the nicest teacher at Wayside School. The scene is also evidence of the book’s more serious aims, for although the collection is intended to provide amusing entertainment to younger readers, it also manages to impart some helpful advice about life.

“It was purple. So Jenny read the story backward. When she finished, she threw up.”

Because Jenny is reading a story backward, her own story is told in reverse chronological order as well. This metafictional structure creates suspense and illustrates how reverse chronological order can be employed to dramatic effect in storytelling. Initially, the opening of “What?” makes little sense until the story finally reveals the prune juice and creates a “surprise ending” from an unknown beginning.

“‘Benjamin is such a funny name,’ said Jason. ‘How’d you ever think of it?’”

Sachar employs dramatic irony in this passage because the narrative has already revealed that “Benjamin” is the student’s real name; however, his classmates are unaware of this fact. This moment heightens the tension concerning Benjamin’s quest to reveal his real name, because he now knows that the other students think his real name is a “funny” one.

“He leaned forward, causing Allison’s tongue to lick his nose. ‘Yuck!’ she exclaimed, then wiped her tongue on her sleeve.”

This moment of physical comedy is designed to lighten the tone of “A Bad Case of the Sillies,” and it also creates an accurate portrayal of zany grade-school antics. The story itself might otherwise be dominated by a grim and ominous one as Allison comes to terms with the fact that she has disappeared from the life she knew at Wayside School.

“As she thought about each person, tears filled her eyes. She missed them very much. They were all so wonderful in their own special ways.”

This moment marks a turning point for Allison. In the first story in her sequence of stories, she actively disliked her classmates, and then she disappeared. After being a part of Mrs. Zarves’s mind-numbing class for six days, she realizes how much she misses her classmates in Mrs. Jewls’s class. Significantly, when she thinks about them, it is in the context of Celebrating Individuality and Nonconformity.

“‘Thank you, Rondi. I like you, too.’

‘Thank you,’ said Rondi. ‘Will you please kick me in the teeth?’”

Louis and Rondi are talking on the playground when Rondi, who is upset about her two front teeth growing in, asks Louis to help her recover what she sees as her individual value by dislodging the new teeth. The shock value of Rondi asking a grown man to kick her in the teeth is increased by the humorous juxtaposition of the request with Louis and Rondi’s mutual assurances that they like one another.

“Stephen pulled it even tighter. His eyes bulged and his nose turned blue. He had never been more handsome.”

This moment illustrates the absurdity of Stephen’s belief that he grows more handsome and important as his tie gets tighter. The narrator’s comment that “He had never been more handsome” can only be interpreted as sarcasm, for Stephen does not look handsome at this moment. The comment could also be interpreted as a snide judgment about Stephen’s usual looks, implying that he is usually so ugly that bulging eyes and a blue nose are an improvement.

“Inside every nice teacher is a mean and rotten teacher bursting to get out.”

Sachar does not mean to literally claim that nice teachers are only pretending to be nice. Instead, he suggests that everyone—even Mrs. Jewls—feels frustrated and constrained at times. This idea supports the text’s broader exploration of The Yearning for Freedom, which is portrayed as a natural part of the human experience.

“‘You could buy ice cream!’ said Joy. ‘All the ice cream you could ever want for the rest of your life.’ She knew Maurecia loved ice cream more than anything else in the world.”

By raising the possibility of endless ice cream, Joy tries to tempt Maurecia into keeping money that does not belong to her. This scene foreshadows the story’s ironic twist, for by doing the right thing and turning the money in to its rightful owner, Maurecia will end up with access to free ice cream for life, thanks to that person’s gratitude.

“Everyone was still waiting for the wonderful news.”

Mrs. Jewls expects that her students will be as excited as she is about the upcoming dancing lessons with Mrs. Waloosh. Her students’ unenthusiastic reaction is typical of the reversals of expectations found throughout the collection.

“‘My name’s not Mark,’ he said. ‘My name really is Benjamin. Benjamin Nushmutt! And I come from Hempleton, not Magadonia.’

‘Fine,’ said Mrs. Jewls. ‘But we were talking about mammals.’”

Benjamin has tried again and again to tell Mrs. Jewls his real name. Now, when he finally succeeds, the moment is rendered comically anticlimactic as she treats the revelation like any other digression and simply tries to steer the conversation back to the lesson.