Skinnybones

Throughout the novel, Alex uses humor to escape his problems, with varying degrees of success. The first instance takes place when Alex makes a mess in the kitchen and resolves “to get [his mom] to laugh the whole thing off” (5). Because he has honed his comedic skills for years, he has come to understand the power that it gives him in a range of awkward social situations. In this instance, his mom ends up “laughing so hard [that] she forg[ets] to punish [him] for lying” (10). Thus, the novel’s early scenes demonstrate that Alex’s humor often serves him well when he tries to resolve conflicts.

However, his ill-timed antics at school soon indicate that Alex’s use of comedy doesn’t always serve him well. When he first used humor to try to befriend T.J., he was met only with hostility, and his humor also grates on his teachers’ nerves, landing him in more trouble than if he had simply stayed quiet. Whether dealing with his peers or with the adults in his life, Alex often defaults to slapstick comedy or snarky comments to deflect attention and evade responsibility. While these tactics are sometimes effective, his lack of baseball skills serves as a recurring stumbling block, suggesting that humor is not an adequate substitute for natural talent in a given endeavor.