The Power Of Push

Push the Bully is not a bad person. In fact, Push is actually a good person with good intentions. He may appear mean and cruel, but he bullies kids with the purest of intentions at heart: to acknowledge and recognize the people in society who are ignored because they are thought of as different. Push’s desire to do good causes him to “bully” the kids are conventionally ignored by society and eventually culminates with him fighting John Williams.
Push disowns conventional standards, while acknowledging that they exists. He cites the Declaration of Independence, saying “ ‘All men are created equal.’ That’s beautiful” (Pg 173). Push shows his love of the idea of equality, while also showing that he believes that true equality is more of a pipe

John Williams works in the opposite way of Push. He does seemingly good things to the people around him, but in actuality what he does is hurtful to those he claims to help. John Williams represents the stereotypical perfect boy, as he is described as skinny, good looking, athletic, and smart. John Williams attempts to fulfill the school kids’ dreams of becoming like him instead of just embracing them for who they are. For example, Williams tries to make Frank skinny. One day at lunch with Frank, Williams says, “ You don’t want those potatoes… One sandwich, remember. You lost three pounds last week” (Pg 185). By seemingly trying to help Frank, Williams is only reinforcing society’s pressure to be skinny on Frank, setting a goal for him that he may never be able to achieve. In addition, John Williams constant pressure and reminders about Frank being fat, probably makes Frank feel unaccepted and insecure about himself, when instead he could, like Push, simply accept Frank for who he is. Williams tries to “help” many people throughout the course of the story. Williams’s desire to do so, angers Push as he is able to see how destructive these practices are. Voicing his anger at Williams, Push describes Williams as the real bully and says that “ Williams is a service animal” (Pg 183). Push compares Williams to a service animal, showing that he believes that Williams is making it seem like the kids

John Williams accepts the role of the perfect child and tries to seem like he is helping others by trying to make them more like himself. Writing this essay caused me to reflect on society’s pressures and made me realize the extreme burden and stress everyone causes themselves, myself included, trying their hardest to be more like a John Williams type figure. It also caused me to realize that we need to change the way we define success because we are unable to just accept and feel comfortable with who we