Wednesday Wars Essay Example

Wednesday Wars is a coming to age historical fiction story about a seventh grader named Holling Hoodhood. Holling is the only Presbyterian student at his school, and he is the only student left there on Wednesday afternoons. He has a father who is never really there for him, and I believe that plays a big part to the story and how it all plays out. Holling starts the year believing that his teacher hates him, but as the year goes on they form a great teacher/student relationship. I believe this is a great book because of the powerful father/son dilemma, the war issues facing them, and the issues Holling faces throughout the book based on his religion.
The father/son dilemmas in this book are very powerful. They are a lot of times when Holling needs or wants his father. Sometimes he needs his attention, sometimes he needs a ride, and many times he merely needed his support. While in the end Mrs. Baker did not end up hating Holling, his father was to concerned with business to even take a second to care about his son.
Holling had a very interesting childhood with being the only Presbyterian in his class. The year before he had two friends who were also, but they moved away. That left Holling being the only student left in Mrs. Baker’s class on Wednesday afternoons. He believed that she hated him for being left there, but as time went on they formed a very good relationship. They spend their Wednesdays studying Shakespeare. They read a new play each month. After the cream puff incident, the Shakespeare paid off for Holling.
Holling kind of struggled with friends throughout the whole book to me. While he had some, it seemed there were unwritten stipulations on the friendships. For example, when the children in the class learned of Holling getting a cream puff, they all said that he owed them one. So he saved, and was still short on money. However, the baker needed someone who knew Shakespeare, and Holling traded being in the play for cream puffs for the class.