Character Analysis
Tyler actually turns out to be a decent person through out the book, although he is seen as a trouble maker and a loser to most people, Tyler proves himself to be much more than that. For example after he had left the room with Bethany he had said "It had turned out better, because I was a stand-up guy, righteous" (130). which is pretty true, he had refused to take advantage of her while she was in a drunken state and instead to look after her, proving strong morals and actual righteousness (although the looking after her part didn't go over well). Tyler also proves to be very deep and understanding, a good example of this was when he had the gun in his mouth and looked in the mirror only to notice that it didn't match his height but his dad's height instead. "I was bigger than my father" (211). By saying this Tyler is realizing that he can become more than his dad, that he isn't sentenced to a depressed sad life that his dad has and that he is able to get over struggles that his dad hasn't. Tyler also proves that he is caring, "A pack of dogs was prowling the doors, senior guys looking for virgin or semi-virgin freshmen to devour. 'Fix your shirt,' I said through my teeth" (48). By saying this Tyler was trying to protect his younger sister from being (for lack of a better word) raped, or harmed in some sort of way. Another point that proves that he is caring is when he is arguing between his brain and his hormones of whether he should have sex with Bethany, "She'll love you for taking care of her. She'll love that you respected her...Yeah. I did it. I rolled away from her" (125). He knew morally that is was wrong to take advantage of her and instead decided to just let it go and get away and help her sober up (Again did not work out well). Finally the overall point that I think proved Tyler to be a decent person and that proved that he had grown up was the very end of the book, "It gave me a choice. I could become the new Lord of Darkness myself, or I could take a gamble and be reincarnated. I chose wisely" (250). He had learned that he could become more than what he was, Tyler learned that he could make his "waste" of a life to something more. All of this proving that Tyler had become mature, was caring, morally just and had found himself once he had beat the game and his father.
Literary Analysis
"But Star Wars, that wasn't a geek thing for him. It was his religion" (22).
The literary element used is a metaphor. It is used to compare the importance that Star Wars has in Yoda's life to how important religion is to the world.
"My hormones were ready to rip my brain out of it's skull" (127).
The literary element used is personification. It is used to represent how frustrated and angry Tyler is with himself and how he is so angry that his hormones could rip his brain from his skull (when they don't have the physical ability to rip out his brain giving the sentence the element of personification).
"I looked like a deformed vegetable swaddled in a Santa suit" (84).
The literary element used is a simile. It is used to compare how Tyler looks as a baby to how a deformed vegetable does. Tyler says this to give the reader a picture of how messed up he looked as a baby.
"When he pushed, my forearm hardened into a steel girder planted in cement" (16).
The literary element used is a metaphor. It is used to compare Tyler's strength to that of a steel girder planted in cement and how it wasn't budging because of his strength.
"The lunch room smelled like deep-fried fat and sounded like a packed football stadium" (63).
The literary element used is a simile. It compares the loudness of a football stadium and the smell of deep-fried fat to that of the sound and smell of the cafeteria to show how gross and loud it was in there.
Tyler actually turns out to be a decent person through out the book, although he is seen as a trouble maker and a loser to most people, Tyler proves himself to be much more than that. For example after he had left the room with Bethany he had said "It had turned out better, because I was a stand-up guy, righteous" (130). which is pretty true, he had refused to take advantage of her while she was in a drunken state and instead to look after her, proving strong morals and actual righteousness (although the looking after her part didn't go over well). Tyler also proves to be very deep and understanding, a good example of this was when he had the gun in his mouth and looked in the mirror only to notice that it didn't match his height but his dad's height instead. "I was bigger than my father" (211). By saying this Tyler is realizing that he can become more than his dad, that he isn't sentenced to a depressed sad life that his dad has and that he is able to get over struggles that his dad hasn't. Tyler also proves that he is caring, "A pack of dogs was prowling the doors, senior guys looking for virgin or semi-virgin freshmen to devour. 'Fix your shirt,' I said through my teeth" (48). By saying this Tyler was trying to protect his younger sister from being (for lack of a better word) raped, or harmed in some sort of way. Another point that proves that he is caring is when he is arguing between his brain and his hormones of whether he should have sex with Bethany, "She'll love you for taking care of her. She'll love that you respected her...Yeah. I did it. I rolled away from her" (125). He knew morally that is was wrong to take advantage of her and instead decided to just let it go and get away and help her sober up (Again did not work out well). Finally the overall point that I think proved Tyler to be a decent person and that proved that he had grown up was the very end of the book, "It gave me a choice. I could become the new Lord of Darkness myself, or I could take a gamble and be reincarnated. I chose wisely" (250). He had learned that he could become more than what he was, Tyler learned that he could make his "waste" of a life to something more. All of this proving that Tyler had become mature, was caring, morally just and had found himself once he had beat the game and his father.
Literary Analysis
"But Star Wars, that wasn't a geek thing for him. It was his religion" (22).
The literary element used is a metaphor. It is used to compare the importance that Star Wars has in Yoda's life to how important religion is to the world.
"My hormones were ready to rip my brain out of it's skull" (127).
The literary element used is personification. It is used to represent how frustrated and angry Tyler is with himself and how he is so angry that his hormones could rip his brain from his skull (when they don't have the physical ability to rip out his brain giving the sentence the element of personification).
"I looked like a deformed vegetable swaddled in a Santa suit" (84).
The literary element used is a simile. It is used to compare how Tyler looks as a baby to how a deformed vegetable does. Tyler says this to give the reader a picture of how messed up he looked as a baby.
"When he pushed, my forearm hardened into a steel girder planted in cement" (16).
The literary element used is a metaphor. It is used to compare Tyler's strength to that of a steel girder planted in cement and how it wasn't budging because of his strength.
"The lunch room smelled like deep-fried fat and sounded like a packed football stadium" (63).
The literary element used is a simile. It compares the loudness of a football stadium and the smell of deep-fried fat to that of the sound and smell of the cafeteria to show how gross and loud it was in there.