Push In Bully

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Push the Bully is not a bad person. In fact, no matter how ironic this may sound given his name or how mean some of the things he does to others in the story may seem, Push is actually a good person with good intentions. He may appear mean and cruel, but he bullies kids with the purest of intentions at heart: to give a voice and to acknowledge and recognize the people in society who are shunned or thought of as other. Push’s desire to do good results in him using unorthodox methods to acknowledge those who are conventionally ignored and attempts to make those kids feel comfortable in their own skin and eventually culminates with him getting into a fight with John Williams.
Push disowns conventional standards, while acknowledging that they exists. …show more content…

Push pities those who are discriminated against because they do not fit into societal standards. Push responds to his pity through love and displays it when he says, “ I love nobody loved” (Pg 173). Push’s idea of doing good and showing his “love” is giving recognition to the unrecognized through bullying. He elaborates on this when he says, “ Me and the devil, we do God’s dirty work” (Pg 181). Push is saying that he pays attention and gives recognition which is doing God’s work, but because the kids he gives attention to are the kids nobody loves, so he must do the “dirty work” of paying them attention through bullying. Push may seem bad to the reader as one might contemplate that there are ways to show another person love and give that person attention other than through bullying, but as Push later explains, hate is all he has so that is his only way of expressing his love for the people nobody loves. Push says, “ I will not be reconciled, or halve my hate. It’s what I have, all I can keep” (Pg 190). Because hate is all Push has, it is his only way of showing his love and affection. Even though his ways of giving recognition to the people considered as other may seem twisted and even though they would prefer other methods of receiving recognition, for the most part they enjoy it because no matter how twisted it may seem, being acknowledged is better than being ignored. As an example, when Push ignores Frank, the fat boy, instead of bullying him like usual, Push realizes that in response Frank seemed “a little hurt” (Pg 181). The fact that Frank seemed “hurt” that Push didn’t bully him seems odd to the reader, but it just enforces the idea that Push is actually doing good through his bullying. In sum, Push’s desire to do good causes him to show his love for those that “nobody loved” using the one thing he can give

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