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This book shows a portrait of Marcus and his
friends bullying Henry. Henry just takes the harassment and doesn't fight back. That behavior could probably be because of his relationship with Marcus. Given that relationship, I would call Marcus's behavior physical and emotional abuse. Do you agree? Do you think the way Henry reacts is typical? How else could he have handled it? If the bully had not been a boyfriend, how should he have handled things?

I agree that it is both physical and emotional abuse. It hurts me reading all that happens to Henry. I do believe his reaction is typical and sometimes it is hard to step back and actually see how things are. He could have attempted to stand up for himself but he may have worried that it would have affected everything else in their relationship. If they hadn't been in a relationship standing up to him may have been easier.

Unfortunately, because Henry was so broken, I feel his reactions are typical. Those who have been hurt have a harder time in seeing when they are abused.

The right thing to do was to seek help from the adults in his life, but he didn't have the strength to. Like mratdegraff91 has said, if Henry and Marcus were not together perhaps it would have been easier to stand up for himself.

hsimone wrote:Unfortunately, because Henry was so broken, I feel his reactions are typical. Those who have been hurt have a harder time in seeing when they are abused.

The right thing to do was to seek help from the adults in his life, but he didn't have the strength to. Like mratdegraff91 has said, if Henry and Marcus were not together perhaps it would have been easier to stand up for himself.

I agree again.

hsimone wrote:Unfortunately, because Henry was so broken, I feel his reactions are typical. Those who have been hurt have a harder time in seeing when they are abused.

The right thing to do was to seek help from the adults in his life, but he didn't have the strength to. Like mratdegraff91 has said, if Henry and Marcus were not together perhaps it would have been easier to stand up for himself.

I really like your answer. His teacher would have been a great one to ask. She seems to really care about him.

I feel that Henry had been ridiculed for so long and since the death of Jesse, much of the fight had gone out of him. I do believe that Marcus and his friends were abusing Henry in the most cruel way. Public ridicule for a teenager is devastating. I work at a high school and teens can be brutal to each other but they can also be fierce friends in their defense of each other as we saw with Audrey and Diego. Abuse comes in many forms, but Marcus's treatment of Henry, as his lover one minute his abuser the next, made me want to cry. It is the people we love or are intimate with that have the most power to hurt us. Overall, I was glad that Henry finally stood up for himself.

Working in a high school? You're brave!

Erik wrote:Working in a high school? You're brave!

Been at it for 24 years! Teenagers can also be really good people. I am a geeky science teacher like Ms. Faraci!

Jennifer Allsbrook wrote:

Erik wrote:Working in a high school? You're brave!

Been at it for 24 years! Teenagers can also be really good people. I am a geeky science teacher like Ms. Faraci!

I still say you are brave. I take on students now and then, as a sort of co-op/apprenticeship placement, but my students are all university-level... and even then, they usually perplex me. So I must give you enormous credit.
In my experience, geeks are generally very decent sorts... of course, they usually know what it is like to be on the receiving end of social abuses, so they tend to be the ones who befriend and support others who are on the social outs.

Jennifer Allsbrook wrote:I feel that Henry had been ridiculed for so long and since the death of Jesse, much of the fight had gone out of him. I do believe that Marcus and his friends were abusing Henry in the most cruel way. Public ridicule for a teenager is devastating. I work at a high school and teens can be brutal to each other but they can also be fierce friends in their defense of each other as we saw with Audrey and Diego. Abuse comes in many forms, but Marcus's treatment of Henry, as his lover one minute his abuser the next, made me want to cry. It is the people we love or are intimate with that have the most power to hurt us. Overall, I was glad that Henry finally stood up for himself.

Very well put, I completely agree the people we love and are intimate with have the power to hurt us the most.

I agree with others that he didn't fight back because of his relationship. I think this is mirrored in other parts of the book. I would add that whenever someone fought back for him, there were often repercussions. Fear of things becoming worse can also make you not want to do anything about it.

I agree that if he wouldn't have been in a relationship with him he might have responded a little more aggressively. However, after being bullied for so long, one can just become numb to it and find it easier to ignore and walk away than fight.

Bullying is one of our problems among the young. We have laws but these laws are not strictly implemented. Sometimes, the young are not aware of their rights against bullying.

I agree with what has been said previously. He was in the relationship and it was hard for him to see and think clearly and objectively. Plus, I think with his personality and past experiences, he just decided it was easier to take it then to stand up for himself. Those scenes were very emotional.

Thimble wrote:I agree with others that he didn't fight back because of his relationship. I think this is mirrored in other parts of the book. I would add that whenever someone fought back for him, there were often repercussions. Fear of things becoming worse can also make you not want to do anything about it.

Well said. Whenever he fought back things just became worse for him. Even when someone was suspended from school, Henry was still the one to get a black eye even though he wasn't the person who told on the kid.

I also think that Marcus was his only contact with humanity. He had no one to talk to right after Jesse's suicide. Even though Marcus abused him emotional, he still needed that physical contact with someone. It wasn't until Diego came to school that Henry started to break things off with Marcus.