God Would Not Play Dice With The Universe...

Big Mouth & Ugly Girl, ISBN0-06-447347-3, Joyce Carol Oates, 2002. Ages 12 and up. Caucasian upper middle class.

Synopsis
This is the story of Matt and Ursula, or Big Mouth and Ugly Girl as they affectionately refer to themselves. Ursula's problem is that she has become so used to being ugly that she has created an alter ego (Ugly Girl) that will allow her to be ugly (inside and out) without allowing others to hurt her. The result is Ursula's extreme confusion about her own character. She carries herself as if nothing bothers her. Her super hero like alter ego has made people shy away from her. Students find her intimidating more than they find her ugly. Her family also finds her unpleasant and intimidating. Ugly Girl becomes Ursula's wall of protection against anyone who has hurt her in the past or could hurt her in the future. Ugly Girl has a revelation when she is faced with a moral dilemma; whether or not to help Matt Donaghy. She doesn't realize that Matt's dilemma is fate. It is the opportunity to find herself and to form a beautiful friendship.

Matt has a huge problem. He has been falsely accused of threatening to blow up Rocky River High school. Well, actually he wasn't falsely accused, just taken out of context. It is through gossip and poor judgement that people begin to slander Matt's name. His dilemma causes him to become a completely different person. At first Matt is shunned by his friends and becomes completely isolated. It seems his whole family is falling apart because of his big mouth. Once he forms a friendship with Ursula he realizes how "phony" he and the people around him used to be. He learns courage and the value of friendship from Ursula, who in turn learns how to open up and love. Lastly, he learns to control his big mouth.

Discussion Topics
1. Self Esteem
2. Gossip
3. Defamation of character
4. Effects of bullying and isolation of peers.
-Suicide
-Depression and Treatment
5. Negative body image.
6. Fate
7. Media hype surrounding school shootings.
8. Pressure from parents at this age and the struggle to get along with them.


Critique

"The hard part of humanity is history. All that's been done to human beings by other human beings" (263).
This quote is the reason a lot of people feel the way they do in this story and is the reason for the creation of Matt and Ursula's alter egos. Ursula created Ugly Girl as a means of shutting people out. Ugly Girl was her defense mechanism. She is someone that cannot cry and cannot be hurt. She can hurt others without giving it a second thought. Matt creates Big Mouth as his means of acceptance. If he is constantly talking and saying things to amuse others he never has to show them his true self. He will never find out what people really think of him...or so he thinks. Matt has a decent life on the surface in the beginning of the story until his big mouth and the catty gossip of his peers cause him to question who he once was. Matt uses Big Mouth to psychologically punish himself after his false accusation. When Matt is attacked by some of his school mates he thinks to himself, "This is what you deserve. Big Mouth. You know it is." (138). Matt also uses Big Mouth to explain why everyone is treating him so badly, but again this is just a defense mechanism. Matt doesn't really believe that he deserves to be treated badly over what has happened. "He did not know why they hated him so much" (139).

In quiet conversation with themselves, the main characters are in a constant state of judgment, inviting the reader to determine what kind of people they really are. I found myself wondering if Ursula was really "ugly" or had she just forced herself into believing this...did she think she was ugly because of how others had treated her? I also wondered if Matt really had a "big mouth," or was he simply acting as many 16-year-old boys do.


The plot of this story is gripping. On the surface the events look as if they might be happening by chance, but as the story unfolds it is easy to see that the events were destined to happen. The story begins with Matt being accused. Ursula happens to overhear Matt's joke about blowing up the school and decides to act on it. These two events set the story in motion which leads to the two characters becoming great friends and eventually boyfriend and girlfriend.

There are also dimensions of fate in the setting of the story. Both Matt and Ursula hike in the Rocky River Mountain Preserve, their common ground, which is where Ursula finds Matt contemplating suicide. Matt tells his dog Pumpkin that he wouldn't have gone through with it, but if Ursula hadn't run in to hims the story may have ended in tragedy.

After they begin to know each other the two characters realize they have much more in common than they think they do which is alluded to all throughout the book. They are almost mirror images of each other.

This book provides a wealth of discussion material for adolescents. It gives examples of how many of them may feel at that age. It also discusses the harmful affects of gossiping, teasing and bullying. It touches on important social issues such as negative body image, suicide and depression. It also goes in depth on relationships with siblings and parents which can be tough to handle with the pressures of school and social life for some adolescents.