Wonder

Wonder

by

R. J. Palacio

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Julian's Mom Character Analysis

The novel implies that Julian is the way he is (rude, exclusionary, and mean) because his parents are that way—specifically his mom. After Jack punches Julian, Julian's mom is fine with Jack returning to school, but she demonstrates shocking closed-mindedness when she suggests that it's too much to ask for her son to be nice to August. She even tries to get August removed from Beecher Prep altogether, though she eventually ends up pulling Julian out of school instead. She also unabashedly edits the fifth grade class photo to get rid of August and distributes the photo to several other parents.
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Julian's Mom Character Timeline in Wonder

The timeline below shows where the character Julian's Mom appears in Wonder. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
August: Apples
The Difficulty of Kindness Theme Icon
Parenting and Guidance Theme Icon
...maybe Charlotte. August wants to know what people's reasons are for not coming, especially Julian's. Julian's mom was the only person who didn't respond at all, and Mom jokes that the apple... (full context)
Jack: Season's Greetings
The Difficulty of Kindness Theme Icon
Status and Bullying Theme Icon
Parenting and Guidance Theme Icon
...picture of Daisy on it, is cute. He tells his mom that he heard that Julian's mom edited August's face out of the class picture. Then, Jack tells her why he punched... (full context)
Jack: Letters, Emails, Facebook, Texts
The Difficulty of Kindness Theme Icon
Parenting and Guidance Theme Icon
Julian's mom writes an email to Mr. Tushman that's CC'd to Jack's parents. It explains that she... (full context)
The Difficulty of Kindness Theme Icon
Status and Bullying Theme Icon
Parenting and Guidance Theme Icon
Jack's mom emails Julian's mom offering to pay for Julian's dental bills, but she also explains that Jack didn't feel... (full context)
Jack: The War
The Difficulty of Kindness Theme Icon
Status and Bullying Theme Icon
...happened because Mr. Tushman forced Jack to be friends with August. Charlotte says too that Julian's mom is pushing the school to review August's application, since some assignments have changed a bit... (full context)
Status and Bullying Theme Icon
...Jack lies and says he doesn't care if nobody talks to him. They agree that Julian's mom editing the class photo was gross. When Charlotte leaves the room, Jack can tell that... (full context)
Jack: Why I Didn't Sit with August the First Day of School
The Difficulty of Kindness Theme Icon
Independence and Growing Up Theme Icon
Status and Bullying Theme Icon
Identity Theme Icon
...what Charlotte shared about Julian's vendetta, though he leaves out stuff about the holiday party, Julian's mom saying that August has special needs, and the rumor that he snapped because of pressure... (full context)