In Bullyville, Bart is grieving for his dead father, big time. Grief is a difficult emotion in its own right, but Bart's happens to be mixed with other harder feelings to boot. His sadness is complicated by conflicting emotions like anger (at his father for leaving the family) and guilt (for not responding to his father's messages). Often Bart talks about the difference between how people expect him to grieve and how he actually grieves—real grief is messy and unpredictable, it ebbs and flows, and Bart doesn't always express it in ways we might expect.
Questions About Grief
- How does Nola help Bart grieve the death of his father? Be specific and give evidence from the text, please.
- Compare and contrast the way Bart and his mother deal with his father's death. Is one way better than the other? What do they learn from each other?
- How does the media seem to think Bart should feel? How does he actually feel? Considered together, what does this reveal about grief?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Bart and Tyro express grief for their dead family members in similar ways.
Grief is not just a feeling; it's a process.