We'll level with you: Compassion doesn't always come easily for Billy in The Year of Billy Miller. And there are a few folks who push his buttons like nobody's business (we're looking at you Emma and Sal). Plus, there're accidental slip-ups, like when he's teasing Emma but it looks like he's poking fun at Ms. Silver. In short, Billy has plenty of potholes to work around on his road to being a more compassionate guy, and in the end he makes some serious progress. We're not saying the road is easy, but Billy ultimately finds that being nice might just be the best option around.
Questions About Compassion and Forgiveness
- What does compassion look like in this book? What traits do the kind characters exhibit?
- Are there any characters that show no compassion whatsoever? What motivates these characters to be mean? And what motivates the nice characters toward kindness?
- Is it always good to be a kind person in The Year of Billy Miller? What are the positives? And what are the negatives to being compassionate?
Chew on This
Compassion equals strength. Billy becomes Mr. Kindness by the end of second grade, and that makes him a seriously strong dude.
Compassion equals weakness. Billy might become a nicer guy over the course of the year, but he becomes a wimp, too.