28 pages • 56 minutes read
Stephen ManesBe a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1982A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaCharacter Analysis
Milo Crinkley
Milo is a young schoolboy who enjoys stories about monsters. He lives at home with his parents and older sister, Elissa. Milo is a self-confessed klutz. He shares that he knocked over his mother’s expensive vase, sat on his sister’s new record album, and let the bottom fall out of a full grocery bag. Milo is self-conscious about his clumsiness, and he takes his sister’s comments like “‘You sure are stupid, Milo’” and “‘Don’t be a pest. Milo’” to heart (11). When Dr. Silverfish’s book falls on Milo’s head in the library, he initially dismisses it. However, Milo is unable to resist the temptation to change from a clumsy tween into a perfect person in just three days, so he commits to following Dr. Silverfish’s three steps. During his journey to perfection, Milo’s characteristics of perseverance, willpower, and courage are shown. He proudly weathers the humiliation of wearing broccoli and stands up to a bully during step one, overcomes the temptation of delicious food during step two, and realizes that he likes his imperfections and those of his family during step three. By the end of his journey, Milo is a self-assured boy who is comfortable with his individuality and imperfections, knowing that everyone makes mistakes. He also understands that “perfection is boring” and that people’s “imperfections” are what make them individuals with unique qualities.
Dr. K. Pinkerton Silverfish
Dr. Silverfish is the sarcastic, humorous, and insightful author of the book Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! (6). He claims to be “an expert on perfection” (8), but he looks like a clown in his book’s author photograph, with baggy striped pants, a Hawaiian shirt with missing buttons, one mitten, half a bowtie, a clown nose, and a feather hat. In the picture, Dr. Silverfish is eating a hot dog, with mustard dribbling down his chin. Dr. Silverfish uses this photograph of himself to underscore the point that “[t]hings are not always what they seem” (7), and to show that he is far from perfect himself.
After guiding the reader through three steps towards perfection, the last of which is practically impossible, Dr. Silverfish states that “perfect is boring” and he would rather be a good person than a perfect person (54). He believes that good people are “a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week” (55), a sentiment that underscores Dr. Silverfish’s own enjoyment of life and shows that he embraces all of life’s imperfections. Dr. Silverfish’s true feelings about perfection are captured in his comments to readers who fail the tests but who would still like to be perfect: “If you still want to be perfect, go back to page one and start over. You are obviously a slow learner” (55). The implication is that the reader is slow to grasp that perfection is not something to strive for.
An example of Dr. Silverfish’s great sense of humor is shown in his biography: “He holds degrees from Fahrenheit University and Centigrade Institute, but when his arms get tired he puts them down” (14). This moment alludes to a broader theme, The Role of Humor in Addressing Serious Themes, as this lighthearted approach helps draw in readers like Milo, who may not have been interested in a more somber or direct text. It indicates that Dr. Silverfish understands his intended audience of adolescent readers, and it is a metatextual reference to how Manes himself is using humor to represent serious topics like insecurities, self-confidence, and failure throughout the novel.
