Previous
Themes
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wednesday Wars, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Wednesday Wars follows thirteen-year-old Holling Hoodhood, a student at Camillo Junior High School, through the entirety of his seventh grade year. At thirteen, Holling is just beginning to think of himself as a person in the world, and most importantly, think about the world beyond him. For Holling, much of his coming of age happens as he begins to question his preconceptions about the world and about the people in it, finally coming to an understanding by the end of the novel that other people lead rich internal lives, just like he does. In this way, the novel suggests that one of the most important elements of coming of age is developing this ability to empathize with others and treat them as fully formed people, not just one-dimensional caricatures.
The novel illustrates this transformation from self-absorbed child to reasonably empathetic teenager mostly through Holling's narration. Holling is an unreliable narrator; the first-person narration means that everything Holling shares with the reader is necessarily filtered through his often-limited perspective. The fact that Holling's perspective is so limited is most evident in how he speaks about his sister, Heather, and Doug Swieteck's brother—both of whom are, for most of the novel, referred to only as "my sister" and "Doug Swieteck's brother." These characters certainly have names (and Holling does finally begin referring to his sister by name late in the novel), so the fact that Holling refers to them in this way indicates that he is simply uninterested in sharing their names with the reader. For him, it's just not necessary to his narration to ever use their names. Holling finally uses Heather's name after spending the few weeks that she's absent thinking hard about who she actually is as a person, what she believes in, and what role she really played in the family when she was at home. These thoughts, which had never occurred to him before, show that Holling is starting to think of Heather as a full, rounded person. In this way, the novel offers a very tangible turning point in Holling's coming of age.
More gradual is the transformation Holling goes through in his relationship with his teacher, Mrs. Baker. On his first day of seventh grade, Holling decides that Mrs. Baker must hate him, given that she rolled her eyes when she realized that as the only Presbyterian student in her class, Holling will spend Wednesday afternoons in class with her, rather than at catechism or Hebrew school like her Catholic and Jewish students. That any teacher would outright hate a student for this reason, especially on the first day of school, is absurd. Both Holling's mother and father point out that Mrs. Baker barely knows Holling, and further, that it's unlikely she would hate him without reason. When Holling refuses to listen to his parents and insists that they're not truly listening to him on account of a "parent gene," it reinforces how limited Holling's perspective truly is—he flattens Mrs. Baker and his parents to caricatures simply performing a prescribed role.
Over the course of their Wednesday afternoon lessons, Holling gradually begins to understand that Mrs. Baker is much more than a hateful and conniving teacher—though often, he makes important realizations only after he makes extremely misguided assumptions. He learns that she was an Olympic runner only after he questions what she knows about proper running form, and his belief that she's hateful is completely dashed when he watches her comfort Mrs. Bigio, the school cook, after she receives word that her husband died. Essentially, over the ten months of the novel, Holling realizes that Mrs. Baker isn't just a teacher; she doesn't sleep under her desk, and she doesn't live for torturing students. Rather, he learns that she's a married woman who deeply loves her husband and fears for his life while he fights in Vietnam; she's a loyal friend to both her coworkers and her students; and most importantly for Holling, she steps in and performs a parental role when Holling's parents are absent—clear proof that she doesn't hate him at all.
Though Holling makes these leaps to seeing his teachers and sisters as full humans, it's important to note that he is still at the beginning of his process of coming of age. Doug Swieteck's brother remains unnamed, and even if Holling does recognize that Mrs. Baker is more than a teacher, he still feels as though it's a strange to speak to her outside of an educational setting. However, by the end of the novel, the realizations that Holling has made allow him to feel like an integrated part of his community and to know where he exists within it. This suggests, finally, that recognizing the other people’s humanity is a crucial part of coming of age and successfully finding one's place in the world.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…
Coming of Age ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Coming of Age appears in each chapter of The Wednesday Wars. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
chapter length:
Get the entire The Wednesday Wars LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Coming of Age Quotes in The Wednesday Wars
Below you will find the important quotes in The Wednesday Wars related to the theme of Coming of Age.
September Quotes
How do parents get to where they can say things like this? There must be some gene that switches on at the birth of the firstborn child, and suddenly stuff like that starts to come out of their mouths.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Holling has just told his parents that his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him, but he's disappointed to discover that his parents don't even believe him. By attributing their disbelief to a "parent gene," Holling discredits his parents’ perspective entirely and avoids acknowledging that they are probably right. Holling’s thought process is a product of his youth, immaturity, and self-centeredness. It hasn't occurred to him yet that other people have valid opinions, and that his beliefs aren't the only ones that matter. However, by attributing his parents’ dismissive behavior to “some gene that switches on,” he points to the way that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipi
November Quotes
I was amazed that Mrs. Baker was letting me read this. It's got to be censored all over the place. I figured that she hadn't read it herself, otherwise she would never have let me at it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Upon reading The Tempest, Holling discovers that the play is full of cursing, drunkenness, and other debauchery that would normally be censored for a thirteen-year-old audience. In this passage, Holling concludes that Mrs. Baker hasn't read the play or else she wouldn’t have assigned it. However, as an avid lover of Shakespeare, it's unlikely that Mrs. Baker hasn't read The Tempest. This emphasizes Holling's narrow view of Mrs. Baker and the world, given that it simply never occurs to him that Mrs. Baker would assign him such a play, questionable content and all. However, Holling's fixation on the questionable content Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores.
"Must all history center around your own personal experience, Hoodhood?" Mr. Petrelli asked.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Holling takes offense when Mr. Petrelli assigns a project titled "The Mississippi River and You," given that Holling has no interest in the Mississippi River and has never been there. In this passage, Mr. Petrelli chides Holling for his self-centered perspective of the world. This illustrates again that Holling is extremely self-absorbed in all aspects of his life—he believes everyone is out to get him, and the fact that Mr. Petrelli asks this question in the first place suggests that Holling does indeed think that history should take his experiences into account. Ironically, the project’s title, “The Mississippi River and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempo
Everyone—except for Caliban—is happy, and everyone is forgiven, and everyone is fine, and they all sail away on calm seas. Happy endings.
That's how it is in Shakespeare.
But Shakespeare was wrong.
Sometimes there isn't a Prospero to make everything fine again.
And sometimes the quality of mercy is strained.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Following the death of Mrs. Bigio's husband in Vietnam, vandals spray-paint "GO HOME VIET CONG" on the Catholic Relief Agency building where Mai Thi lives. Holling sees this event as proof that Shakespeare is wrong, and happy endings don't happen in the real world. Despite being fatalist and simplistic, this attitude shows that Holling is beginning to actually apply what he's learned from Shakespeare to his own life, which means that he is broadening his limited understanding of the world. As he begins to think critically about the plays that he reads with Mrs. Baker, Holling also begins to use Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita de
December Quotes
I guess it didn't matter to them that the Bing Crosby Christmas Special was on television tonight, the way it mattered to my parents, who would never, ever miss it. I guess the Hupfers thought that a Shakespeare debut was a whole lot more important than hearing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" one more time—even though Mr. Hupfer was loosening his tie and holding his hand over a yawn.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
At Holling's debut as Ariel in holiday production of The Tempest, he's shocked to see his classmates' parents in the audience. His surprise that his classmates’ parents aren’t at home watching television implies that Holling's home life is far more dysfunctional than he'd previously let on—it's no surprise to him that his parents didn't come to see him perform. This begins to show Holling that not all parents are dysfunctional and detached; some of them are actively supportive of their own children and of other children in the community. Though it never occurs to Holling, it's also likely that Danny's Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis
When gods die, they die hard. It's not like they fade away, or grow old, or fall asleep. They die in fire and pain, and when they come out of you, they leave your guts burned. It hurts more than anything you can talk about. And maybe worst of all is, you're not sure if there will ever be another god to fill their place. Or if you'd want another god to fill their place. You don't want fire to go out inside you twice.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After Mickey Mantle refuses to sign Holling's baseball because of Holling’s yellow tights, Holling must cope with discovering that someone he once idolized is actually rude, callous, and mean. By likening Mickey Mantle to a god, it suggests that Holling thinks of him as a legend or a story. Since Holling is learning to think critically about literature, he must also think critically about his favorite sports legend. Given the new evidence, Holling must painfully evaluate everything he ever knew about Mickey Mantle and come to a new understanding about him based on his new information. Being able to do Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt
"Pick it up and be glad you're getting it. You shouldn't even be here, sitting like a queen in a refugee home while American boys are sitting in swamps on Christmas Day. They're the ones who should be here. Not you."
Mai Thi took her Something. She looked down, and kept going.
She probably didn't see that Mrs. Bigio was pulling her hairnet down lower over her face, because she was almost crying.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Because of her unspeakable grief following her husband's death in the Vietnam War, Mrs. Bigio begins lashing out at students, especially at Mai Thi, who is Vietnamese. It is significant that Holling actually notices this interaction, as it shows that he has momentarily disengaged from his own world to think of others and their experiences. Mai Thi and Mrs. Bigio are both emotionally overwhelmed in this moment, highlighting the deep, painful emotional impacts of the war. In addition, the food being called "a Something" indicates that it's probably unsavory and even unidentifiable. While Mrs. Bigio's food is never described as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia a
But Doug went on in, and he came back out carrying the cardboard box for Number 166 from the Coat Room. He looked at us, shrugged, and hauled it away down the hall, staggering under its clumsy weight.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After Mrs. Baker arranges for Holling, Danny, and Doug to throw baseballs with the Yankees players Joe Pepitone and Horace Clark, Doug decides to throw out a mean prank he's spent the whole school year prepping. This shows that Mrs. Baker treating her students as though they're actual people, with important thoughts, concerns, and passions. When she shows Doug that she cares about his love of baseball, he in turn agrees to think of her as more than an authority figure that he can torment for entertainment. This is a turning point in Doug's coming of age, as well as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut
January Quotes
Doug wouldn't tell us what he said when he saw the pictures and the can of yellow paint. All I know is that he wouldn't help, and so took a black eye […] Whatever it means to be a friend, taking a black eye for someone has to be in it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When Doug returns to school after the holiday break with a black eye, he explains that his brother tried to rope him into helping him paint the photos of Holling as Ariel in The Tempest. Doug standing up for Holling is a turning point in both boys’ development. It reinforces that Doug realizes and accepts that Holling is also a person worthy of caring for, and standing up to his bully of a brother shows him asserting his independence at great personal risk. Meanwhile, Holling now truly thinks of Doug as friend and as part of his extended "chosen family." Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delect
February Quotes
And that's when something changed. I suddenly wondered if my father was really like Shylock. Not because he loved ducats, but because maybe he had become the person that everyone expected him to become. I wondered if he ever had a choice, or if he had ever felt trapped. Or if he had ever imagined a different life.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After Holling's dad gets the job to remodel the junior high school, gloats about it, and badmouths Kowalski and Associates, Holling begins to think more critically about his dad and who he is as a person. In this passage, Holling recognizes, for what seems like the first time, that his dad was once young and coming of age as well, and maybe he was forced to grow up and become a cutthroat architect. Holling is able to do consider this possibility after having several months to think about and digest The Merchant of Venice, which shows that he's beginning to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusan
March Quotes
You know things are bad when the United States Marine Corps is using stethoscopes and divining rods.
Still, the White House announced that the enemy offensive was running out of steam, that casualties at Khesanh were light, that we would never give up the marine base there.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As the conflict in Vietnam appears to get worse, Holling's entire family watches the news every night. Here, Holling thinks that the news footage from Vietnam is in direct contradiction to what he hears the White House saying. This shows that Holling's lessons with Mrs. Baker can also be transposed to help him think more critically about politics and current events. In this case, Holling recognizes that not everything he hears, even somewhere as official as the news, is true. Learning to question authority like this is a major part of Holling's coming of age, as he does this both Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque om
It also didn't help that Mrs. Baker kept wiping at her eyes during her grading. She'd told us that she had a terrible cold, but she hardly needed to tell us. Her eyes were mostly red all the time, and the way she blew her nose could be pretty impressive. Sometimes while sitting at her desk, she'd just stop doing whatever she was doing and look somewhere far away, like she wasn't even in the classroom anymore.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Holling describes Mrs. Baker's cold, which is probably not a cold whatsoever. Even though Holling has come very far in his process of coming of age by this point, this bit of narration suggests that he is still struggling to consistently empathize with people and consider their inner lives. The way that Holling describes Mrs. Baker in this passage suggests that she doesn't actually have a cold—instead, she's drowning in grief and fear for her husband, who has just been declared missing in action in the Vietnam War. The fact that Holling can observe evidence of this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam elige
"It was for the women's four-by-one hundred relay. Don't look so surprised. You didn't think I'd spent my whole life behind this desk, did you?"
And I suddenly realized that, well, I guess I had. Weren't all teachers born behind their desks, fully grown, with a red pen in their hand and ready to grade?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After Holling questions Mrs. Baker's authority as a running coach, she shows him her medal from the 1956 Olympics. When he's confronted with this information, Holling begins to understand how truly narrow his understanding of Mrs. Baker was: as far as he was concerned, she was nothing more than a teacher, despite other evidence (such as the fact that she has a husband) that suggested otherwise. This is clear, undeniable proof that Mrs. Baker had an extraordinary life before teaching and is a complex human being. When Holling makes this connection, it's a major step in his own coming of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae v
April Quotes
"The whole world is going crazy," my father said, "and no place is crazier than college. You'll stay at your job and be safe."
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When Holling's sister insists on attending Columbia University in the wake of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death, Holling's dad insists that she will stay at home and work. Though Holling's dad is trying to preserve his family’s perfect, wholesome, and conservative image, it's also important to notice that he wants, first and foremost, to protect his daughter. This adds another layer to Holling's dad, who is, for a majority of the novel, a one-dimensional bad guy. It indicates that for all his neglect and callousness, he truly does care for the safety and wellbeing of his family. Though Holling doesn't Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum
May Quotes
For supper, my mother set only three places. She did not cook lima beans. She did not say anything while my father swore up and down […] Didn't she realize that this didn't help his business reputation or his chances for the Chamber of Commerce Businessman of 1968, which that creep Kowalski was trying to steal from him?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After Heather runs away to California to “find herself,” Holling's parents deal with their anger and grief in different ways. As seen in this passage, Holling's mother shows her displeasure with her husband by not cooking lima beans anymore. This act is subtle, which aligns with her quiet, timid nature. Holling's dad, on the other hand, is only concerned with how Heather’s actions reflect on him—he does not seem concerned for his daughter's safety after all. In this way, the novel suggests that even Holling's dad has some growing up to do, as recognizing that others have internal lives separate Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sun
"Would you mind not calling me 'Mr. Hoodhood'? It sounds like you're talking to my father."
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Holling crouches under his desk during a bomb drill one Wednesday afternoon, he asks Mrs. Baker to call him "Holling" instead of "Mr. Hoodhood." In doing so, Holling asserts his independence from his father for the first time in a tangible way. This shows that Holling is developing self-confidence and the belief that he can truly dictate his own future, given that he's actively choosing to not be like his father. Further, though Holling describes his father using very delicate language for much of the novel, this is a clear indicator that Holling doesn't like his dad, and given Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita dele
That's when I knew for the first time that I really did love my sister. But I didn't know if I wanted more for her to come back or for her to find whatever it was that she was trying to find.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Holling mulls over how different the house is without his sister around, he realizes that he does love her, even though their relationship feels strained sometimes. However, Holling's uncertainty as to whether he wants her to return or stay away is even more indicative of his coming of age, as it shows that he understands that his sister is different and separate from himself. It recognizes that though he does want her at home for his sake, her desires matter just as much if not more, which is something that Holling's dad never understands. In this way, the novel Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati
June Quotes
I could tell that Mrs. Baker was wanting to try it. It was probably getting hot on the open rocks above the falls, with the sun coming straight down now […]
It's got to be hard to be a teacher all the time and not jump into a pool of clear water and come up laughing and snorting with water up your nose.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
On the end-of-year camping trip, Holling watches Mrs. Baker's face as she supervises her students swimming. He believes that she wants to try it and feels bad that she can't. Here, Holling uses empathy to interpret Mrs. Baker’s facial expressions, which is a sharp contrast from the way he read her facial expressions at the beginning of the novel—most of his early interpretations limited her motives to assassinations and booby traps. Now that he actually recognizes that Mrs. Baker is human and probably uncomfortably warm in the hot sun, it illustrates that Holling has finally come of age and recognizes Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet
"You think that's how you become a man, by chanting a few prayers?"
"You think you become a man by getting a job as an architect?"
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After Danny Hupfer's bar mitzvah, Holling and his dad argue about how a boy becomes a man and enters adulthood. Holling's father considers having a job and supporting a family to be indicative of manhood, while Holling thinks that a symbolic and religious coming of age, such as a bar mitzvah, is an appropriate way to enter into adulthood. This provides some evidence as to why Holling's dad is arrogant and obsessed with his job: he sees his family and his job as evidence that he's a contributing, adult member of society who is dutifully providing for his family. This Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delec
