Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

by

Becky Albertalli

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda makes teaching easy.

Holidays Symbol Analysis

Holidays Symbol Icon

For Simon, one of the major indicators that he and his family are changing in fundamental ways is that holidays don't feel the way that they used to. On Halloween, Simon muses at length that his costume (a dementor from Harry Potter) is nothing like what he wore every year as a child (girls' dresses)—and while he's uncomfortable now with the fact that he loved wearing dresses, the fact that he's spending Halloween drinking beer instead of trick-or-treating throws his growing maturity into sharp relief. On Christmas Eve, he notes that even though his family "hits all the traditions" such as making truffles and singing the Chipmunks theme song, the day still manages to feel different and uncomfortable. Holidays then become a symbolic representation of the changes that the Spier family is grappling with, while also underscoring the inevitability of those changes.

Holidays Quotes in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

The Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda quotes below all refer to the symbol of Holidays. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Agency and Control Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

“I completely see the appeal of being someone else for the evening (or in general). Actually, I was a bit of a one-trick pony myself when I was little. I was always a superhero. I guess I liked to imagine myself having this complicated secret identity. Maybe I still do. Maybe that's the whole point of these emails.”

Related Characters: Blue / Bram (speaker), Simon Spier
Related Symbols: Holidays, Superheroes
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

It's Christmas Eve day, and something feels a little bit off.

Not bad, just off. I don't know how to explain it. We're hitting everyone of the Spier traditions.

Related Characters: Simon Spier (speaker), Alice Spier, Nora Spier, Mom, Dad
Related Symbols: Holidays
Page Number: 151
Explanation and Analysis:

In this moment, all I want is for things to feel like Christmas again. I want it to feel how it used to feel.

Related Characters: Simon Spier (speaker), Alice Spier, Nora Spier, Mom, Dad
Related Symbols: Holidays
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
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Holidays Symbol Timeline in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

The timeline below shows where the symbol Holidays appears in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
...have to do this. Simon asks Martin, who's sitting nearby, if he's going to Garrett's Halloween party the next day. In his excitement to accept, Martin trips over his shoelace and... (full context)
Chapter 4
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
Simon emails Blue and tells him that he's never worn a scary costume for Halloween before; his family only does funny ones. He wore girls' dresses until fourth grade when... (full context)
Chapter 5
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
Simon feels as though the energy at school on Halloween, which is conveniently on a Friday, is infectious. He wears cat ears and a tail,... (full context)
Chapter 6
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
Blue emails Simon that his Halloween was very quiet and he ate a bunch of candy. He admits that he's excited... (full context)
Chapter 7
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
...tells the reader that he used to love dressing like a girl. He'd dream about Halloween starting in April and try his costumes on multiple times before Halloween. Now, he's just... (full context)
Chapter 11
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
The day after Thanksgiving, the entire Spier family sits outside playing a game. Alice is home from college, and... (full context)
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
...He assures her that she'll be fine to have them memorized by the end of Christmas break, but she insists that he doesn't have any lines so it's easy for him... (full context)
Chapter 17
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
Simon spends the first Saturday of Christmas break at school for an all-day rehearsal. He feels far away as he eats donuts... (full context)
Chapter 18
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
A few days before Christmas, Blue writes that he came home from school to find both his parents at Blue's... (full context)
Chapter 19
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
On Christmas Eve, Simon feels as though things are off despite the fact that his family has... (full context)
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
...like this. Nick touches Simon's arm, which he never does, and wishes him a good Christmas before heading back to his house. (full context)
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
Simon's family has French toast for Christmas Eve dinner on nice china, per tradition. Simon still feels as though things aren't the... (full context)
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
On Christmas morning, Simon wakes up relatively early. He sits with Bieber on the couch until everyone... (full context)
Chapter 20
Agency and Control Theme Icon
Relationships and Empathy Theme Icon
Simon emails Blue and says he had a weird and awful Christmas in which he came out to his family and will soon be out to everyone... (full context)
Chapter 21
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
The Saturday after Christmas, Simon, Alice, and Nora go to Waffle House for breakfast. Alice smiles at a guy... (full context)
Identity and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
On New Year's Eve, Simon and Mom argue about Simon needing to clean the basement before having a... (full context)
Chapter 22
Family, Change, and Growing Up Theme Icon
Blue emails Simon and writes that his New Year's was pretty slow. His stepmom and the wife of Mr. Sexual Awakening compared ultrasound photos,... (full context)