Here's what Punkzilla has to teach us about the Midwest, at least as seen through Jamie's eyes: It's boring. Sure, there are all those state fairs where you can eat fried things on a stick, but road-tripping across Middle America means staring out the window at a whole lot of corn. As Jamie travels from Portland to Memphis, he learns that what's interesting about a place—for better or for worse—is its people. Who ends up where is a matter of circumstance and coincidence; sometimes you find the most interesting characters in the most mundane places.
Questions About Contrasting Regions
- Would Jamie have gotten to P in time to say goodbye if he'd stayed on the Greyhound?
- What's up with P's phone? Why doesn't Jorge contact Greyhound when Jamie doesn't arrive? Do you think he does, and Jamie just doesn't know about it?
- Why does Jamie choose Portland when he leaves Buckner? How does he get there? Do you wish Rapp had told us, or is it irrelevant to the narrative?
Chew on This
Jamie grows up in the Midwest, moves to the West Coast, and travels back through the Midwest to end up in the South. The only part of the country not represented in Punkzilla is the East Coast. (Of course, it's all North to Branson—whose name is, incidentally, a town in Missouri.)
Jamie's hustling skills allow him to survive on the road. A more sheltered kid might not have survived the trip—but then again, they probably wouldn't have taken it in the first place.