If the book is called “Miracle,” is about the fate of a child, and is addressed to children and teenagers, it is not necessarily fantasy. In this case, in the story “Miracle” there is not an ounce of fantasy, except, perhaps, a happy ending. After all, the fate to which the protagonist of the book was doomed before birth, you would not wish even the worst enemy.
What does the story “Miracle” tells.
This book – the story of the boy Auggie, who goes to school for the first time in his life, although his peers by this time enough sitting on the school bench and listening to the teachers. The fact is that the main character is crippled by a congenital genetic disease and has been home-schooled for several years. Now that the boy has safely undergone several surgeries, allowing him to get along almost unaided, his parents have decided to send Auggie to school so he can “fit in” with normal life. Although the boy is introduced to the school, the teachers, and the students beforehand, soon after school begins, Auggie begins to be bullied. One of those who joins Auggie’s tormentors is Jack, who at first became his friend and protected him from insults and ridicule. Moreover, Auggie’s own sister, Via, begins to shun her younger brother because she is perceived as the boy’s sister with a disfigured face. But little by little, thanks to the help of a wise teacher and her own happy character, Auggie develops relationships with her classmates. What’s more, when the long-reconciled Jack and Auggie go with the other schoolchildren to a country summer camp and are attacked by bullies, the friends come to the aid of the very guys who not so long ago were bullying Auggie. The respect that the main character has earned through his courage and happy character is the real miracle.
What is the meaning of the story “Miracle.”
The point of this story, as the author himself repeatedly emphasizes – not to despair and not to give up, even if you feel that the whole world has turned against you. And readers who might find themselves in the role of Auggie’s tormentors, or at least those who involuntarily shudder at his disfigured face, begin to realize that beneath a frightening exterior may hide a courageous and resilient character, which Auggie’s mother calls a true miracle.
Analysis of the story “Miracle.”
This novella, which has been translated into several dozen languages, including Russian, has garnered praise from both professional critics and general readers. Among those who liked the story “Miracle” – people suffering from congenital diseases, emphasizing that the author subtly understood and conveyed the feelings of a disabled child, who wants to be isolated in the safe home world, then to live an ordinary life, even if for this you must take a fight with their enemies and their fears.
The popularity of the story proved so great, and the questions that readers asked, so interesting that Raquel Palacio has written several books of sequels. One of them is called “Auggie and Me” and is written on behalf of the boy’s classmates, including his main abuser Julian. Here the reader learns what makes Julian bully Auggie and what complexes drive this bully boy. In We Are All Miracles, Auggie tells how he lived and who he interacted with until he went to the best private school in town and experienced the events described in the story “Miracle.” The book “365 Days of Wonder” contains observations and rules of life collected by Auggie’s wise teacher, Mr. Brown. Finally, “The White Bird” is written on behalf of Julian’s Jewish grandmother, who was hiding from the Nazis and their acolytes during World War II. All of these books make it possible to understand the story “The Miracle” better and to feel the author’s philosophy, though their success is no match for the worldwide popularity of the first story.
Critics and sophisticated readers compare Miracle to other novels about children with disabilities, including the absolute classic, the autobiographical novel I Can Jump Over Puddles by the Australian writer Alan Marshall. But if little Alan, despite serious illness, never felt defective and in anything did not lag behind other children, Auggie almost suffered the fate of the school outcast, although he grows up in a more comfortable and tolerant to the needs of children with disabilities.
The story of the book “Miracle”
As Raquel Palacio herself told readers, the idea for the story came to her when she saw her son crying when he met a terminally ill girl with a disfigured face on the playground. Though she took the boy away and tried to calm him down so as not to traumatize her son and the strange girl, he cried even harder. It was then that the writer began to think seriously about the plight of children with disabilities, as well as those who live with them side by side, and most importantly – about what it feels at such encounters with ordinary children for the first time in their lives faced with real grief. She wished she had stayed on the playground and talked to the girl to show her that the boy was simply mistaken and that her son had nothing to fear. The title of the story is a song by Natalie Merchant, whose lines precede the first chapter and set the right tone for the story, charging the reader with courage and optimism.
The meaning of the book’s title, “Miracle.”
The title of this story has several interpretations. “Miracle” is the nickname that Auggie’s mother calls him, it is also the reward that the boy receives after the school year ends. But it is also the final change that occurred in his fate both through the sensitivity of adults and through Auggie’s own behavior.
The Problematics of the Book of Miracle
This story offers a glimpse into the soul of not only the disabled child who finds the courage to resist bullying, but also his abusers and his close family, who need to protect and comfort Auggie and at the same time teach him how to live in the larger world. It helps to understand that those who bully the unlikeable” often know no rest from their own fears and complexes and must be brave enough to dare to face them.
What the book “Miracle” teaches
This story, useful to both children and adults, teaches you to evaluate not only a person’s appearance but also what’s hiding inside, not to judge people you meet by first impressions, which often turn out to be deceptive, if not false. For those who find themselves in the situation of Auggie and his loved ones, the book teaches them not to lose heart, and for those who meet seriously ill children, especially those who live near them or go to the same school, to be wiser and see such a child as a person, not a freak and not an unfortunate victim of an incurable illness.
Explanation of the ending of the story “Miracle”
The ending of this book can be explained by the wisdom and persistence of the adults, especially Auggie’s parents and Mr. Brown, who do not force Auggie’s classmates to make friends with him as soon as possible, but they discreetly teach the children the right behavior patterns and hope that patience and time will do their work. The happy ending can also be explained by the behavior of Auggie, who managed not to despair and not to become bitter, but to show not only his loving parents that he is not just a child, but a real miracle.
