The Wednesday Wars

Schmidt devotes much of this section to the Vietnam War and its intersection with Holling’s life: at the national level, as he watches the news each night with his family, and at the community level, as he befriends Mai Thi and observes Mrs. Baker, whose husband is missing in action. At the section’s opening, Schmidt highlights the Battle of Khesanh, known as the bloodiest and most controversial battle of the Vietnam War. Holling notices the discrepancies between the White House’s boastful reports that “the enemy was about to give up” (166) and images on the news of wounded soldiers and marines “covering their heads as the mortars came” (166). Through Holling’s eyes, Schmidt draws attention to the controversial nature of the Vietnam War. He highlights major current events from the late 1960s to expose modern young people to this period in American history. From Holling’s perspective, young readers can gain accessible insight into a war they have probably not previously considered.

Along with reports of the war on the national level, Schmidt also highlights how the war affects Holling’s community. Mrs. Baker is clearly going through a difficult time of worry for her husband, Lieutenant Baker, evidenced by the tears and runny nose she blames on a cold. However, she has no choice but to carry on with her life as usual. Holling notes that she continues to pour into her students like a gardener watching the seeds she planted bloom. Her personal trials relate to the theme that people are more than their current title. While Holling sees Mrs. Baker as nothing but his teacher at the novel’s beginning, his perspective is gradually changing to see Mrs. Baker as a person with many aspects to her life: a husband she misses, a faith that she clings to, a love for literature, and a past as an Olympic runner.

Beyond Mrs. Baker, Holling’s friendship with Mai Thi also shows the effects of the Vietnam War on Holling’s small community. Holling struggles to understand why the school makes fun of her for her bravery in facing the rats. Schmidt shows how people who are scared and hurt can sometimes deal with their emotions by lashing out at the nearest person they can find to blame. Just as Mrs. Bigio uses Mai Thi as a recipient for her anger and grief over her husband’s death, so too do students treat Mai Thi as a recipient of blame. It is only at the section’s end that Mrs. Bigio reconciles with Mai Thi, and the reader sees the power of forgiveness as the two cling to one another at the chapter’s close.

Schmidt balances the heavy, war-related focus of this chapter with an abundance of humor. Coincidence continues to play a role in Schmidt’s development of comedy, seen when Mrs. Sidman returns as a school board member. Unsurprisingly, she coincidentally undergoes more trauma when the long lost Sycorax and Caliban fall from the ceiling tiles directly into her lap. Schmidt uses this scenario to humorously bring many details of the novel to a head. Schmidt also uses humor to develop Holling’s voice as a junior high school student. He coaches Mrs. Baker in what to do (and what not to do) when the school board comes, and later, humorously describes his record-breaking run when an escaped Sycorax and Caliban chase him, giving him “the Big M” (180). Despite Holling’s expectation for an ominous day on the ides of March, the day ends favorably, though not without comedic snafus.