The Mysterious Benedict Society Isolation Quotes

Ouch. "She was the only one who did." We kind of want to debate this point, but sadly there's nothing to debate—from what we hear of the orphanage director, he was more concerned with collecting his per student fee than making sure his students were doing okay. And the other kids at the orphanage all seemed to resent Reynie's intelligence or just ostracize him because he found books "enjoyable." Poor kid. But still. At least he has Miss Perumal, right?

Unfortunately, in our experience, kids who get teased don't necessarily stick together. Why? Because when you're getting bullied or teased, mostly you just want it to stop. So when the people who've been bullying or teasing you move on to someone new, it's kind of a relief, and the last thing you want to do is throw yourself back into the line of fire by hanging around with their new favorite target.

It's sad because it's just plain sad, but it's also sad because if all the kids who got teased refused to stand by and watch someone else get teased ever again, well, there'd be no one left. To tease or be teased. Right? Because like Reynie points out, everyone gets teased from time to time.

And it turns out he is. Sticky has run away from home and is under the impression that his parents are better off without him, so yeah—he's alone too. Now here are some kids who know isolation firsthand and long-term.

Well that doesn't sound like fun. This quote shows us that as much as Reynie loves Miss Perumal and has made a significant connection with her (significant enough that she adopts him at the end of the book), he still feels isolated at the orphanage. He doesn't fit in with the other kids, which of course makes him feel lonely, and he's already read all of the textbooks and, most likely, mastered most of the material offered up for education at the orphanage school, which leaves him pretty much nothing to look forward to in the next eight years.

Again, ouch. So Reynie had no friends as of yesterday. None. Not a one. Not even a penpal. Nada. So under "Friends" on his Facebook page, there's a picture of… no one. Talk about isolated.

Perhaps someone who's never felt like part of something before? Not part of a family or a group or a club or a scheme to get-rich-quick or even a fandom. Yeah, that person—that's who would put himself in danger to belong. It's actually not all that hard to understand. Lots of people do lots of foolish things to achieve a sense of belonging. Why? Because isolation doesn't feel good.

We get the feeling that this childhood experience of isolation played a part—however big or small—in shaping Mr. Curtain into the power-hungry loner that he's become as an adult. But certainly not all kids who have a tough childhood turn into megalomaniacal tyrants bent on taking over the world, so… what else do you think might have influenced Mr. Curtain to become the person he's become?

So Reynie's biggest fear is being alone—and moments later we learn that Sticky's is not being wanted. These two boys have definitely felt isolated in their lives, so much so that their biggest fears revolve around remaining that way. That should make them perfect candidates to become Executives in Mr. Curtain's organization, since he—and the Whisperer—can offer them a sense of belonging they haven't always gotten… but it doesn't.

Yeah maybe—but Sticky's not exactly at his best in this moment. He's just had one go round with the Whisperer, which left him feeling pretty weak and vulnerable. It also gave him a taste of reassurance, so it only makes sense that now, like every other Messenger ever to sit under the Whisperer's helmet, he wants more—more consoling, more reassurance, more proof that he's wanted. So of course he's flattered by the invitation to sit at the Messengers' table at lunch, and of course he wants to go.

But that doesn't make him a bad person; it just makes him a person with low self-esteem. In this moment. Of course later, when he's feeling more confident in his abilities and his self-worth, he's able to face the Whisperer—the Whisperer—without polishing his glasses. And if the Messengers invited him lunch a week later? We're guessing he wouldn't find the invitation quite so tempting, because at that point he's not feeling so isolated anymore.