The Impacts of Mistakes Made in Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman

Mistakes can seriously impact the people who make them; however, the effects are not always negative. In the book, Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman, a teenage boy named Brent is the new kid in town and he faces some major problems with his peers. After being pushed around, treated like a pawn, and utterly rejected, Brent tries to commit suicide by taking his hands off the wheel of his moving car. Although Brent’s attempt is not successful, his actions still have a tragic ending- Lea, a young, kind, beautiful girl, is unlucky enough to be in the car that Brent crashes into. The car accident results in Lea’s death, but also the start of Brent’s magical journey of redemption. Brent’s task is to travel to the four corners of the country, build and display whirligigs, and keep Lea’s spirit alive. Though Brent may not realize it, the trip does influence him in many different ways, one major change being Brent’s newfound ability to create strong relationships with a variety of people that he meets during the course of his adventure. Throughout Brent’s journey, Paul Fleischman uses the people that Brent interacts with to portray the idea that friendships can be formed regardless of personality type, race, and age.

Emil, a soon-to-be college student who has mountains of achievements, forms an unusual yet strong friendship with Brent even though the two have different personality types and very little in common. Emil is described as a kind, outgoing, extremely accomplished man who can fluently speak 3 languages and provide numerous pieces of information about Biology to Brent. On the other hand, Brent can only stand by and admire Emil’s charm and intelligence, for Brent is not able to perform all the amazing tasks that Emil is capable of. On...

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...e, race, or age - in order to be friends.

When it comes to friendship, personality type, race, and age are trivial matters; Brent’s strong bonds with Emil, the African American children, and the painter prove this. However, the idea of looking beneath the surface applies to not only the characters of the story, but also real people in our world. Humans need to learn how to accept everyone the way they are, for mankind is simply too judgemental. Paul Fleischman is trying to warn humanity about the many consequences that can occur if people continue to refuse to embrace one another’s flaws and faults. No one is perfect, so why judge? Just like Brent’s whirligigs’ interconnected parts, the world and all its people are linked together in a way that people should be able to feel the truth of a relationship regardless of each other’s outer appearances and characteristics.