Jade Lange's Butter

In many cases, figuring out a title for a piece of writing can be the most difficult part of the process. However, the title is one of the most important components. In the book Butter, the author Jade Lange kept the title simple yet engaging, as it made the reader want to understand the context of the word “Butter.” This originally drew me to the book, and rest of the book was even more enthralling than the title. Overall, Butter was entertaining, eventful, and sensitive all at the same time. In my opinion, the key theme of the book was the question about popularity in high school: what it means, and how it can affect students. This was most clearly seen in the perspective of Butter, as the popularity concept made him change the way he
Jealousy was a small theme in this novel. Butter had feelings of envy towards Tucker due to the fact that he had gotten thinner since the last time he saw him. Butter was extremely upset because he felt he would never be able to do what Tucker pulled off. For instance, when Butter and his mother first saw Tucker, his mother was ecstatic to hear and see the amount of weight Tucker lost. She said “Fifty-six pounds! Really? How wonderful!” (26). This lead to Tucker asking Butter if he was sticking to the diet in the same way that he did. Butter responded “Does it look like I’m sticking to the diet” (26)? Then, to further show his displeasure, he rolled his eyes. Butter seemed to try really hard to make the conversation between the three of them short. The second Tucker realized he had to go, Butter quickly said “Mom can we go?” (26) This shows that Butter was embarrassed and jealous because he realized that he wasn’t able to stick with the diet, and he would never be the person others hoped he could be. The way Butter’s mom responded to Tucker’s weight really affected Butter. The excitement and pride that his mother had in Tucker made Butter feel negative about himself. He was jealous and embarrassed over his personal failures in terms of his body. This negativity and hopelessness only encouraged the feelings of hatred that showed themselves on that infamous