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Dean Moran


Dean Moran is probably the ultimate role model for how to deal with bullies. Throughout the chapter “Maggot,” Jason gets several choices for dealing with it from people around him, ranging from his teacher’s somewhat cryptic advice to his bus driver’s idea to “slice his tendons.” I think the most important advice he receives is from Holly Deblin and Dean Moran.
While his teacher’s note is nice, it’s somewhat vague and it doesn’t stick as well as “Don’t let dickheads define who you are.” Norman Bates’ idea is even worse, as it would’ve landed Jason in jail. Holly’s advice provides a neat summary of what Dean exemplifies: not caring what “they” think. Dean doesn’t try to fit in with them, and he hardly reacts to whatever they do. At the beginning of the chapter, Jason does the opposite, and shows that he cares what they think about him. However, we can see at the end of “Maggot” when Jason is attacked and later in “Goose Fair” when he’s approached that Jason follows Dean’s example. He makes himself a less satisfying target by hardly reacting to the bullying.

Comments

  1. MitchellApril 29, 2019 at 10:17 AM

    Their form is rather cryptic and proverbial, but a number of Mr. Kempsey's aphorisms about bullying do speak directly to the dynamics you're describing here: "the independent befriend the independent" could be read as an allusion to Holly Deblin and some of the other "alliances" we see Jason form. "Respect earned by integrity cannot be lost without your consent" speaks directly to the idea that Jason can exert some leverage over the bullying by how he reacts to it--he has to "consent" to have his integrity eroded by these dickheads. "Don't laugh at what you don't find funny" applies to Jason's own twinge of guilt when he realizes that on a typical day, he'd be laughing along with the PE teacher's homophobic harassment of Nicholas Briar. These aphorisms require more active work to explicate, perhaps, but I would argue that Kempsey, Deblin, and Moran are all working together in this chapter to lead Jason toward a new understanding of the social dynamic.

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  2. Emi L.May 13, 2019 at 5:23 PM

    I really admired dean's attitude. I am jealous of his security in who he is and his confidence that he is valued despite what people may tell him. i think an important part of his character is that he has such a supportive family. He's definitely one of the best influences on jason in my opinion, and he's exactly what Jason needed--really helped him get through that rough year.

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  3. AnikaMay 16, 2019 at 9:54 PM

    I like how Jason becomes closer and closer to adopting Dean Moran's attitude throughout the book. It seems really, really hard for Jason not to care about his social status at school and what the bullies say to him. However, as he hangs out with Dean more I think he starts to realize that he's never really going to be happy if he is always caring about what people think about him.

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