Analysis Of Jeff Kinney's 'Diary Of A Wimpy'

1007 Words3 Pages

In the children’s novel Diary of a Wimpy, Jeff Kinney presents to readers a teenage boy Greg Heffley, who is ultimately struggling with his identity in school, aspiring to reach as high as he possibly can on the population scale. This is achieved through literary elements such as exploring theme, characterisation and style to elaborate on the internal struggle of being his ‘true’ self or ‘acting cool’ to increase his reputation.
Kinney uses multiple themes that are very explicit throughout the book. However bullying is quite evident, highlighting the major problems in schools that still arise to this current day, allowing readers to become aware of the impacts of bullying. Greg elaborates being on both ends, being the victim and the instigator. He clarifies that he initiated the name calling of fellow peers and has been bullied often from other classmates, especially his older brother Rodrick. This is apparent through …show more content…

As this is a journal there are no uses of challenging words, aiming towards a younger audience opposed to an older audience. In the text there is a widespread use of capital letters to help exaggerate and express urgency, as well as the use of slang and terms such as “goalie” and “slam book”, to indicate that this is a younger writer. The use of metaphors is quite evident throughout the novel, which is obvious when Greg’s older brother Rodrick says, “Get off, Baby Hippo!” (Kinney, 2007). The use of metaphors adds more flavour to a text, drawing attention to the specific features being compared to create expression.
Jeff Kinney effectively uses a variety of literary elements to explore the ideas of bullying and self-exploration, throughout Greg’s struggles in the novel Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Kinney successfully highlights the effects of these themes through issues such as popularity, to significantly showcase the importance of friendship over being

Open Document