Wonder By R. J Palacio: An Analysis

The novel Wonder was written by R.J Palacio and published in 2012. Palacio’s first novel was Wonder. She had always wanted to write, but the time was not right. She wrote the book based on a real life experience that happened at a store where she was with her two sons and there was a girl who had a facial deformity. The book takes place in modern day New York City. The book is about a boy named August who is born with a facial deformity which prevents him from being ‘normal’ in the society we live in. The author’s intent is to show how appearance impacts people’s perceptions and how it can affect relationships. Appearance is what many people will focus their first impressions on of someone. The author portrayed how appearance impacts relationships through the use of imagery, symbols, and

Appearance is a big part of everyone’s daily life as they go on with their day living the way they were born. Through the book, character Via gives a vivid description of August stating, “His eyes are about an inch below where they should be on his face, almost down to his cheeks. They slant downward at an extreme angle, almost like diagonal slits that someone cut into his face, and the left one is noticeably lower than the right one.” (Palacio, 2012, p. 88). Via uses imagery to give the reader an image of August’s appearance. She describes his deformity with very explicit detail saying “Sometimes people assume he’s been burned into a fire: his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on the side of the candle” (Palacio, 2012, p. 88). The author shows the reader how his appearance has affected other people’s perceptions of August throughout his life. I think that in this novel imagery is very important due to August’s deformity and the effect it has on his life. Having a vivid image allows the reader to view the effect appearance has on people’s