Being a teacher and having a passion for ending peer bullying, K. M. Walton certainly knows how to show the impact of bullying from the mind of both the victim and the bully in her 2012 novel Cracked. Her novel follows characters Victor and Bull, who have a deep hate for one another. But, their fates seemingly intertwine as they try to get away from it all. Forced to share a room in the same psych ward at the hospital, feelings are spilt and both characters release their inner thoughts in an intense and gripping story. Not only does Walton use crude and sometimes vulgar vocabulary to humor the reader and get the reader to really feel how the characters do, but also develops the main characters and uses text-to-world connections to teach the reader about the hideous effects of bullying.
From the beginning, Victor and Bull have hated each other with a passion. Bull has bullied Victor since they both were in kindergarten, calling him names and physically torturing or embarrassing Victor everyday. He does this on account of his alcoholic grandfather back at home, whom he calls “Pop,” because he constantly punches Bull into the ground. But Bull doesn’t know that Victor also has a horrible family, with parents that don’t even love him. In fact, he says that his dog is “the only one who ever really loved [him]” (Walton 93). At about the same time, both of them try to commit suicide and eventually end up in the psych ward at the hospital, and to make matters worse, they are sharing the same room. They must then decide to settle things once and for all, or to do their time in the ward and then go back to resuming where they left off.
Word choice and the context where it is used is humors the reader, and it allows the realer to feel the emotion of of the page. When Victor is escorted to his room in the psych ward, he realizes that he is sharing the room with Bull. He states, “No way in hell am I sharing a room with that cretin” (Walton 112). By using words such as “hell” and “cretin,” the reader can feel the emotions going through Victor’s head, such as fear and hate. Bullying makes the inflicted person both fearful and hateful towards the bully, which then develops an terrible way of thinking about the situation. Then, the point of view changes to Bull. The situation is reiterated, but from Bull’s perspective. When he realizes that his new roommate is Victor, he says, “that [a**hole] is my roommate? I hate that douche” (Walton 116). By calling Victor both “a**hole” and “douche,” the reader gets a look into the mind of Bull and how he sees Victor. Bull repeatedly makes up names for Victor, and Bull has an even worse way of dealing with his problems. Thus, the author humors the reader by having both characters use vulgar vocabulary to describe one another, and in turn that allows the reader to feel the deep hate the characters feel for one another.
More importantly, though, Walton’s novel has text-to-world connections that teach the reader that bullying is not just a work of fiction. Bull is mocking Victor because he is upset that the friend he made in the ward is leaving that day. Victor is so defeated and fed up that he says that he wishes the curtain “was made of soundproof steel so that [he] would not be able to hear another human being’s voice” (Walton 242). By using words such as “soundproof” and “human,” the readers can feel how defeated Victor feels. He just wants to give up, and that is often how many victims of bullying in the real world feel. Later on, when Victor is in group with Bull, he finally lets his emotions go. He says to Bull, “you made me feel worthless” (Walton 261). The use of the word “worthless” indicates Victor’s true feelings. His family didn’t love him, and being bullied just made him feel worse. Therefore, the novel has text-to-world connections that show how victims of bullying in the real world feel.
Most importantly of all, though, is how Victor’s development throughout the novel teaches the effects of bullying. Victor tried to suicide at the beginning by taking some sleeping pills, then “five more, [then] five more” (Walton 97). By taking more and more pills, his desperation is shown. He wants to die, and that is in part from being bullied. But, near the end of the novel, Victor finds someone who cares about him. He says that “[he] wants [her] to be there” (Walton 286). Victor now sees that there is at least one person in the world that cared about him all along. But, he couldn’t see that because of Bull constantly making him feel worthless. Thus, Victor changing after what happens in the ward shows how bullying had impacted his life.
In conclusion, K. M. Walton’s novel Cracked humors the reader with vulgar vocabulary, but also teaches the reader about the impact of bullying. Many people do not see the depth that bullying can go to in someone’s life, and it just takes someone to realize and care in order to change that. Because this book relates to bullying throughout all levels of schooling, but has explicit language, middle to high schoolers would be a great audience for this book. Everyone can learn from the impact of bullying just from reading this book.
- Goodreads rating – 3.96
- REVIEW – Jack Murray