The Bully

“‘You been a real brother to me,’ Darrell said. ‘I…I love you, man,’ Darrell blurted, his voice melting into embarrassing sobs.”

This conversation comes from Darrell’s last evening spent with his lifelong best friend, Malik. The raw emotional vulnerability of Darrell’s statement of love and his freedom to cry embarrassingly emphasize the deep intimacy of that friendship and serve as a stark contrast to the isolation and lack of emotional vulnerability that he will experience in his new environment.

“If she were doing this for some selfish reason, then he could be mad at her, and it would almost feel better.”

Although it will take Darrell the entire novel to do so, he will eventually be able to openly rely on his internal moral compass—a quality that is on display in this passage. Although he is miserable at the thought of leaving Philadelphia, he refuses to be unreasonably mad at his mom. Even in his pain, he can see that she hasn’t moved them for “selfish reasons”—instead, his welfare is top of mind for her.

“You tell me to be a man,

But you don’t understand

You ain’t lived this life,

You ain’t paid this price,

You ain’t had these blues,

Try walking in my shoes.”

These verses come from a rap song Darrell hears playing out of a car at a rest stop on the way to California. It introduces the theme of the many ways there are of Defining Being a Man. It also reflects how alone and misunderstood Darrell feels walking into this unfamiliar new life: No one has “lived this life” or tried “walking in his shoes.”

“Darrell felt ridiculous. His uncle treated him like a turkey that needed to be fattened up for Thanksgiving.”

This simile demonstrates how Darrell feels uncomfortably judged by his Uncle Jason. Uncle Jason mocks Darrell’s body, making his nephew feel even less in control; the comparison to a turkey emphasizes how undignified and dehumanizing it is to have your body sized up that way.

“We thought you’d make us a loan so we don’t put your scrawny butt in that trash dumpster over there.”

Darrell’s first interaction with his bully, Tyray, shows one of Tyray’s main manipulation techniques—one glimpse into How Bullies Exercise Power. By framing the theft as Darrell’s money being given as a loan to ensure his protection, Tyray makes Darrell feel like he has willingly walked into this arrangement and deserves blame for it.

“We freshmen.”

Darrell repeats these words in his mind after talking to Amberlynn for the first time. They represent the feeling of belonging and community Darrell seeks and has trouble finding at Bluford. Instead of being on his own, in Amberlynn’s formulation, Darrell has become part of an inclusive “we.”

“Me, dummy!”

In Darrell’s second meaningful interaction with Amberlynn, she emphatically claims that Darrell has made at least one friend—her. However, her insistence is somewhat ironic, given her unwillingness to acknowledge Darrell in school. Darrell is rightfully confused and skeptical about her pledge of friendship since Amberlynn is clearly embarrassed of him in front of other people.

“He taught Travis that strength was a way to force others to do what you want, and he taught Nate that strength meant not telling others when you needed help.”

Darrell is critical of what Uncle Jason has taught his sons about power and his Defining Being a Man as primarily based on a relationship of “force.” After witnessing Travis bullying Nate and finding out that Uncle Jason sees it as appropriate behavior, Darrell seriously questions Uncle Jason’s beliefs. He sees Travis’s behavior through the lens of his own bullying. The parallel construction in this line (two matching grammatical segments—in this case, “he taught Travis” and “he taught Nate”) mimics the way bullying has an equal and opposite effect on the victim, instilling a warped understanding of power.

“Ain’t no one else there who’s as small, dumb, and poor as you.”

Tyray’s belittling words poke at Darrell’s key insecurities: his weak and small body, his inability to think of a solution to this situation, and his family’s socioeconomic status. By knowing and pointing out Darrell’s insecurities, Tyray maintains power over Darrell because he can externally reinforce the things that make Darrell feel most ashamed of himself. The implied threat is that Tyray will make these inadequacies public if Darrell looks for help or doesn’t keep the bullying a secret.

“But he also had another question, one he got from Hatchet: What should I do to change things?”

This line shows how Darrell’s thinking has begun to change as a result of reading Hatchet. Rather than passively forfeit agency to someone else or to fate, Darrell now puts himself in the driver’s seat of his life and thinks about what he can do to overcome the obstacles of his social and school life.

“Darrell, I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. What I want to know is what you want to do now.”

A pivotal conversation with Coach Lewis inspires Darrell to make the choice to change his life by joining the wrestling team. Like the other positive male role models in the novel, Coach Lewis doesn’t add to Darrell’s self-hatred by doubting him; instead, the coach uses the best aspects of team dynamics to create camaraderie and boost his players’ self-esteem. Here, Coach Lewis’s attitude that the past doesn’t matter helps liberate Darrell from all his perceived embarrassing failures. It allows him the opportunity to look to the future and practice working toward a goal.

“But inside his heart, a tiny flame of hope burned, one so small and frail that he was afraid to admit it even existed.

This metaphor illustrates Darrell’s growing feelings for Amberlynn: The fragile, vulnerable experience of hoping deeply for something is like the warmth of a small fire—potentially powerful but easily extinguished. Because of the way Darrell fits into the social hierarchy, he doubts that Amberlynn could ever like him and worries that admitting his feelings, even to himself, would be too humiliating. The image is important because it also defines Darrell. Like fire, he has inner reserves of power and might, but right now, he can only conceive of himself as “small and frail.”

“It made him feel as if he had a secret weapon, one he could use if he ever needed it.”

Darrell feels empowerment after learning new wrestling techniques that can help him defeat a stronger or bigger opponent. The understanding that size alone doesn’t determine a wrestling winner also foreshadows the eventual climactic fight against Tyray where Darrell uses the techniques that he has learned on the team to defeat his bully.

“‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ Amberlynn screamed, ‘I don’t even like him. Do you hear me? I don’t even like him!’”

In one of the novel’s tensest scenes, Tyray bullies Amberlynn about associating with Darrell until she disavows him entirely. Though Amberlynn does like Darrell, she is conscious of her image and vulnerable to attacks about her social standing. In a betrayal of her growing friendship with Darrell, she is willing to say something she doesn’t mean to avoid Tyray’s bullying. The tactic plays into Tyray’s strategy of isolating Darrell from peers and also demonstrates that Tyray has few qualms about tormenting even those peers whom he likes—having a crush on Amberlynn doesn’t stop him from sadistically harassing her.

“‘Hey Darrell.’ Darrell turned to face Kevin. He was about Tyray’s size, maybe a little bigger.

‘Yeah?’ Darrell asked nervously.

‘Good job today, Kevin said and walked out.’”

This moment features strong suspense and a reversal. Darrell sees Kevin, one of the older, stronger wrestlers on the team and immediately assumes that he will behave like Tyray. The quick scene ends in a reversal when Kevin instead treats Darrell with casual kindness. Darrell sees a kid with inherently superior power treat him as an equal. Kevin thus becomes another positive male role model, one who demonstrates that power doesn’t need to be wielded aggressively to be seen as strength.

“Listen Darrell. Amberlynn thinks you’re a nice guy, and if you’d talk to her, you’d find out. Then both of you can stop feeling bad about what happened.”

This moment represents a turning point in Darrell and Amberlynn’s relationship. Though Amberlynn is too embarrassed by the episode in class and too worried about what Darrell thinks to approach him, Darrell now understands that Amberlynn likes him, and he feels empowered to talk to her.

“It’s your first match so no one is going to expect you to be an expert. Good luck.”

Kevin, the best wrestler on the team, kindly helps Darrell feel a little bit better about the stakes of his first match, offering an encouraging comment that reassures Darrell rather than taking him down. Though Darrell understandably remains nervous about potentially losing, he sees that his teammates will not judge him and will continue to support him. This helps him feel pride and a sense of accomplishment after his match even though he loses; he can see that he has grown as a wrestler even though he doesn’t come out on top.

“‘You ain’t my coach,’ Darrell interrupted.”

This is the first time Darrell pushes back against Uncle Jason. After working so hard to learn wrestling and seeing what a safe environment looks like with his coach and teammates, Darrell develops the strength to push back against Uncle Jason’s shaming advice and stand up for himself.

“Tell your Mama she did a good job with you.”

Miss Bea recognizes Darrell’s thoughtful and empathetic nature when he stops to help her clean up in the cafeteria. Darrell always tries to do right by his mom and feels guilty about betraying her by giving her money away, so hearing this affirmation helps Darrell see the good parts of himself.

“‘You wanna dance?’ He asked. He could not believe that he had said it. He was almost certain she would laugh. ‘Yeah,’ she answered. ‘I was hoping you’d ask.’”

This scene shows how far Darrell has come in building his confidence and going after what he wants. Despite all his fears and the inner voice that still tells that him everything will go badly, he discovers that Amberlynn does reciprocate his feelings. The novel thus models an age-appropriate and respectful approach for young teens to explore and express romantic interest.

“A man’s got to stand up when some else is in trouble, even if it means he might get himself in trouble.”

This moment completes the arc of Darrell’s changing relationship with Uncle Jason. After privately stewing about Uncle Jason’s parenting and shaming attitudes, and then pushing back against his comments, Darrell finally reaches a place of mutual respect with his uncle. Uncle Jason modifies his way of Defining Being a Man, recognizing that Darrell’s inner strength and moral resolve make him more of a man than physical strength would.

“Tyray, you ain’t nothing but a bully.”

This moment serves as Darrell’s emotional triumph as he finally stands up to Tyray and calls him what he is—the bully of the novel’s title. By puncturing the secrecy of Tyray’s victimization, Darrell dismantles Tyray’s power over him. The phrasing of this insult makes it clear how little Darrell now thinks of Tyray, who is only “a bully” and “nothing” else.

“Then he heard a loud, wet snap and a scream.”

In the climactic moment of the novel, as Darrell successfully uses his wrestling move to throw Tyray, Tyray falls, braces himself incorrectly, and breaks his wrist. The consonants in the vivid description mimic the brutality of the snapping bone. The novel uses alliteration, or using words starting with the same sound in close proximity, in “snap” and “scream”; onomatopoeia, or using words that sound like what they describe, in “snap”; and sensory imagery, or using descriptions that invoke the five senses—here, we get sound via “loud snap” and “scream” and touch via “wet snap.”