Bud, Not Buddy

Bud, Not Buddy

How to Move Past  “I liked it vs I Didn’t Like It” Reactions by Richard Peck

1.       What would the story be like if the main character were of the opposite sex?

I think it’s very important to the story that Bud is a young boy, especially considering the time period of the story. He is growing up and becoming a man, which is a lot different and perhaps more complicated than becoming a woman. Because Bud is a male character certain personality traits become more important than they would be if it was a girl. For example, Bud has to be brave and knowledgeable about the world. Even though he’s obviously still a child, as evident by him believing in vampires and other things, he overcomes his fears when tries to kill what he thinks is a vampire bat in his foster family’s shed (27). He also shows some protective characteristics early on when he comforts the other, younger boy at the orphanage. I think the journey Bud goes on is symbolic of his journey into manhood. Even when he ends up crying finally, and thinking he must look like a baby, he is really growing up and becoming a stronger, well-rounded individual.

2.       Why is the story set where it is? (Not what is the setting.)

The story is set in Michigan during the Great Depression.  We learn early on in the story about the setting. On page 2, the social worker says to Bud and his housemate, “I know you don’t understand what it means, but there’s a depression going on all over this country.” (I happen to think Bud understood a lot more than he was given credit for). To go along with my first answer, I think the setting is extremely important to the development and theme of the story. Bud would probably not be in the situation he was in if it weren’t during the Depression, so this is an essential piece of the story. Becoming a man is hard enough, but to complicate that journey with the hard times people faced during the 1930s, and you’ve got a story that is very hard to put down

I also think the place is equally as important as the time the story takes place in. Flint, Michigan was an industrial city around this time, and a lot of people lost their jobs. These people had nothing after the Depression hit them; they were without a means to provide any type of support for their families. I thought this was important because in places like Minnesota for example, a lot of people had their own farms so they could, at the very least, grow their own food. In industrialized cities, such as Flint, times were even harder during the 1930s because most of the people there were, simply put, SOL.