28 pages • 56 minutes read
Stephen ManesBe a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1982A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
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BetaChapters 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
Back in his bedroom, Milo opens “DAY 3” of Dr. Silverfish’s book: “TAKE THE LAST STEP TO PERFECTION!” (41). Before explaining the final task, Dr. Silverfish congratulates the reader on completing step two: Going a whole day without eating shows immense willpower. After joking that the final task is to steal a gorilla from the nearest zoo, Dr. Silverfish tells the reader that the actual final step is to do nothing for 24 hours: “Don’t do a single thing for the next twenty-four hours. Sit! Think. Relax” (43). It is only acceptable to go to the bathroom, slowly sip weak tea, and breathe.
Milo remembers that he has a baseball game the following day. Milo enjoys baseball, even though he is not particularly good at it, but he decides to skip the game. Becoming perfect is more important. While thinking about baseball, Milo notices that he is tapping his fingers, so he stops and thinks about doing nothing. His father brings him a jar of weak tea and a “Do Not Disturb” sign for his door (46). Milo thinks about all the advantages he’ll have once he is perfect, like no more school and pitching the perfect ball.
Milo runs out of things to think about after half an hour. He listens to the traffic and his stomach grumbling. He looks for shapes in the shadows on the walls but only finds one. Milo struggles to stay awake, especially after everyone else goes to bed. Shortly after two o’clock in the morning, Milo’s eyes briefly close. To wake himself up, Milo goes to the bathroom. When he sits back in his room, the room suddenly fills with a bright light, and he sees rows of people sitting silently around him. Milo finds that he cannot turn his head to look at them, as “[t]hat would be doing something” (50). Milo realizes that these are all perfect people, doing nothing other than sipping weak tea. Thrilled, Milo tries to be as perfect as they are. As Milo wonders what perfect people do, it dawns on him that they do nothing, and that he had “never been so bored in his entire life” (51). Eventually, Milo falls asleep and falls off his chair. He startles awake and feels sick with disappointment that he failed the final test.
Chapter 6 Summary
Milo is devastated. He picks up Dr. Silverfish’s book and turns to the last chapter. The words “CONGRATUALTIONS! YOU’RE PERFECT” (53) shout at him. Sadly, Milo follows the instructions to turn the page if the reader had not followed the steps. The words “CONRATULATIONS! YOU’RE NOT PERFECT!” (54) jump out at him, followed by Dr. Silverfish’s explanation of why being perfect is not so great. Milo smile grows as he reads Dr. Silverfish’s complaints about boring, “perfect” people. In conclusion, Dr. Silverfish explains that you can be imperfect and “still be a good person. Good people are hard to find nowadays. And they’re a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week” (55).
Milo closes the book and joins his family downstairs. His father understands that Milo “failed” the last test and jokes “‘Maybe it’s just as well […] I don’t know if I could stand living with a perfect person’” (56). Milo is happy and feels normal again. He whistles badly as he makes a pickle and salami sandwich. Milo can still make it to the baseball game, so his mother drives him there. He plays so badly that his teammates get annoyed, but Milo simply shrugs, explaining, “‘Nobody’s perfect’” before perfectly catching a long fly ball (57).
Milo takes Dr. Silverfish’s book back to the library, and Milo sees a classmate wearing a piece of broccoli around her neck a few weeks later. Milo doesn’t say a word—he simply takes a bite of his sandwich, dribbling mustard down his chin.
Chapters 5-6 Analysis
Dr. Silverfish’s second step, going without eating for 24 hours, is a test of willpower. Willpower is important for achieving perfection, but it is also important for following through on what you believe in—which may not conform to society’s idea of perfection. Milo believes that he is performing character-building tasks to achieve perfection, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Dr. Silverfish is coaching his readers to become content and confident in an imperfect world. Seeing the vision of all the perfect people makes Milo doubt that “perfection was all it was cracked up to be” (52). However, he still feels like a failure when he falls asleep during Dr. Silverfish’s final step. It is not until Dr. Silverfish reiterates that perfection is boring and being imperfect is “wonderful” that Milo is comfortable with not being “perfect.” Dr. Silverfish writes that the reader can “be as imperfect as you please and still be a good person. Good people are hard to find nowadays. And they’re a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week” (55). The task that Milo wanted to complete would’ve been nearly impossible to do anyway, and his failure helps him learn Dr. Silverfish’s lesson: One’s acceptance of one’s flaws and differences is more important than accomplishing everything perfectly.
Milo’s transformation into a confident young man is shown by his new approach to baseball. Before “completing” Dr. Silverfish’s three steps, Milo would have worried about all the other things that go wrong during the baseball game, such as dropping a fly ball or striking out at loaded bases. Instead, Milo stays calm and reminds himself that “No-body’s perfect” (57). This moment highlights that he has learned one of Dr. Silverfishes most important lessons: that even supposedly “perfect” people make mistakes simply by being human. The other lesson that Milo learns is that being a good person is better than being a perfect person, as good people are “a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week” (55). Milo appreciates that he would miss the imperfections in his own family—how boring life would be with a perfect sister and perfect parents. Milo learns to fully accept others in addition to accepting himself.
