74 pages • 2 hours read
Geoff HerbachStupid Fast
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
“The Problem:” Coping with Mental Illness in the Family
Herbach shines a light on the often-stigmatized subject of mental illness as he explores the impact it has on the Reinstein family. Jerri’s mental health challenges, coupled with unresolved trauma from Steven’s suicide, deeply affect Andrew and Felton, altering their feelings about themselves and Jerri. As Felton and Andrew each take a different stop-gap approach to coping with Jerri’s mental health crisis, they reveal their own emotional struggles. Jerri attempts to manage her illness, but it progresses beyond her ability to self-remedy. Herbach illustrates the far-reaching emotional effects of mental illness on the family, and the importance of acknowledging and seeking help.
Felton notices—but ignores—early signs that Jerri is struggling. He recognizes there is a “problem” in the family, but he attaches it to Jerri, who gradually becomes more unstable and unpredictable. Family roles change: Jerri no longer acts like an adult, or a mother. After Jerri’s refusal to parent Andrew following his thefts, Felton tells Aleah, “I don’t know any adults,” suggesting that he believes Jerri has lost her adult rationality (179). Jerri’s illness progresses until she is unable to cope with everyday life. Her cry, “I can’t help you” when Felton is about to attack Andrew reveals she feels she cannot care for her family—and is also a cry for help (214).
Jerri’s change from caring “hippy” mom to distant, emotionally fragile stranger has a profoundly negative effect on Andrew and Felton. Felton feels that Jerri becomes “just a ghost of somebody I didn’t know” (174), emphasizing both his emotional distance from her and Jerri’s loss of her sense of self. Andrew asserts that his and Felton’s dignity has been “stolen” (219), and Felton agrees. Jerri’s mental illness has taken away their dignity by undermining family stability, forcing them to fend for themselves and leaving them feeling hurt and insecure.
Felton’s resemblance to Steven causes Jerri’s unhappy memories to return and past wounds to reopen. She made, as Grandma Berba thinks, “unhealthy choices” in her young life. Jerri has coped with her inner pain by repressing her memories and feelings, keeping secrets, and lying to her kids, but these are ineffective measures that break down under the weight of her internalized guilt. Though she recognizes that she is struggling, her self-interventions—such as therapy, meditation, and authentic conversations with Felton—are not enough to prevent her mental health from deteriorating beyond her control.
Felton is frightened by the changes in Jerri’s personality and by Andrew’s intense response to them. He recognizes that something is seriously wrong with the family, commenting, “I wasn’t blind” (148). Like Jerri, however, Felton copes with his feelings through avoidance and denial. Felton physically stays away from Andrew and Jerri as much as possible. His primary strategy is, “Run away. Run away” when confronted with feelings that make him uncomfortable (195). He also attempts to mentally distance himself from his family by stigmatizing them and making fun of them. Felton refers to Jerri and Andrew using negative, judgmental words, saying things like his “family is going totally ape shit loony tune” (145). Making light of poor mental health lets Felton relieve stress by finding humor in situations that are otherwise tragic: the “darkness” in his tale.
Felton’s efforts at avoidance, like Jerri’s, are ineffective coping mechanisms that do not rid him of his guilt, anger, and embarrassment. As Jerri’s mental health worsens, Felton feels increasingly tired and communicates less with his friends, indicators of his own emotional distress.
Andrew copes with Jerri’s emotional breakdown by confronting it and searching for its root cause. Unlike Jerri and Felton who retreat into silent denial, Andrew pushes for communication. He tries to enlist Felton’s assistance and attempts to get Jerri to talk about her past. Both Jerri and Felton rebuff his efforts, making Andrew feel abandoned and devalued. Andrew’s efforts fail to solve the “problem,” though his investigation gets him closer to the truth of its cause. Andrew suffers emotionally from the loss of his loving relationship with Jerri and her newly cruel comments, and from Felton’s obstructive sarcasm.
Herbach frankly describes the effects of mental illness and the long road to recovery. Ultimately, Felton and Andrew realize that Jerri’s illness is beyond their ability to “fix.” Grandma Berba’s intervention sets the family on the path to recovery. By telling the truth about Steven, she opens the door for everyone to express their feelings and communicate. She realizes that while she, Andrew, and Felton can be supportive, they cannot treat or cure Jerri. She also reminds Felton that he is still a child, removing the burden of parenting from his shoulders and protecting him from the same sort of self-blame that Felton internalized after Steven’s suicide.
The Reinsteins show their fundamental resilience and love for each other, rallying and acknowledging their emotions, releasing guilt, and establishing healthier communication patterns.
Building Your Team: The Need for Communication in Family and Peer Relationships
Although a loving family, the Reinsteins do not authentically communicate with one another and with their peers. Their resulting isolation compounds the negative emotional effects caused by Jerri’s mental illness. Felton, Andrew, and Jerri struggle with feelings of low self-worth, loneliness, and abandonment. As they work through these emotions, they ultimately learn how important they are to each other’s well-being and realize the critical importance of a supportive network.
Family relationships provide structure, stability, and unconditional love. They help form one’s identity and values and give children a connection to their family history through their relationships with extended family members. Felton is critical of his family because he feels it lacks many of these elements and does not give him the support he needs. Felton initially goes weightlifting with Cody because he feels he has nothing to lose, neither friends nor “the stability of [his] family” (63).
He compares his family to others in Bluffton, thinking that the Reinsteins are not “normal” largely because of his father’s death, his own personality, and Jerri’s eccentricity. He comments, “Who wouldn’t hate us?” because of what he sees as their dysfunction (106). Felton believes other families who have experienced “domestic drama” are “lucky,” because they communicate with each other and talk about their feelings. He notes that “[t]hey talk and talk and talk” whereas Jerri shuts down conversations about Steven and tells them to move forward in life (173).
The Reinstein family has difficulty relating to one another even early on. Andrew asserts that Felton’s attitude is partially to blame, saying, “You are causing everybody pain and suffering, you jerk” (44). Felton admits to himself that he makes his family “suffer,” acknowledging he has deliberately punished Jerri over the years and that he feels a “sincere hate” for Andrew (45). Felton has a negative communication style stemming from low self-esteem and denial. He primarily avoids talking with Jerri or Andrew—even making it a bullet point on his to-do list. When he does speak with them, he is defensive and scornful.
Jerri says that she is “trying” to communicate with Felton, but she believes that her and her boys’ happiness depends on her lie about Steven. Though she is trying to protect them, and herself, from emotional pain, this foundation of guilt and secrecy is not conducive to authentic communication. Additionally, in cutting herself off from her mother, she denies the boys a relationship with their grandmother. Jerri’s isolation contributes to her mental health crisis, during which she stops communicating completely. Felton notes that Andrew, the family’s sole communicator, “suffered most” from his and Jerri’s withdrawal.
Grandma’s intervention allows Felton, Andrew, and Jerri to begin reconnecting. They create new relationships based on authentic emotions and honesty rather than the false history Jerri has perpetuated. Felton and Jerri talk openly about their feelings and the past, and Felton recognizes that he and Andrew have been “so out of touch” during Jerri’s crisis (220). They reestablish their sibling connection, sharing their feelings and leaving anger and resentment behind. Honest communication begins to restore the family foundation.
Communication is equally as important in establishing supportive friendships. Friends are as vital as family in offering emotional support, belonging, and a sense of self-purpose. All the Reinsteins suffer from a dearth of friendships. Andrew admits to Felton that he has no friends outside of his chamber music group. Jerri has no meaningful relationships outside her children. Felton initially only has Gus and Peter as friends—and he distances himself from them, convinced they have turned against him. Friendship requires a give and take of trust and communication, something the Reinsteins, and Felton in particular, are not very successful with.
Felton, worried about losing his new friends, keeps the truth about Jerri’s illness and his unhappiness at home a secret. Aleah and Cody, however, realize something is clearly wrong. When they ask him if he is okay, Felton dissembles. Aleah is more upset that Felton does not trust her, recognizing that a lack of communication is a bad foundation for a relationship saying, “You told me nothing. That’s not good” (229). Aleah, Cody, and Felton’s other “honky” friends persist in reaching out even as Felton withdraws from them because of the harassment and his family situation. Eventually they break through his suspicious, protective barrier and reopen communication.
Felton comments in hindsight that his behavior was “crazy,” a combination of growth (in acknowledging his own behavior) and lingering immaturity (in the continued use of stigmatized language). Felton realizes that “Felton Reinstein is seriously paranoid. He jumps to conclusions and is quick to turn on people close to him (such as Peter Yang, Gus, Cody, even Aleah)” (288). Felton discovers that true friendship requires trust and honesty, and the benefits are lasting support, and true sense of belonging.
Identity Building: Coming of Age
Stupid Fast is an example of a Bildungsroman, a “novel of education” or “novel of formation,” in that it follows Felton’s transition from the immaturity of childhood to adulthood. Over the course of the novel, Felton experiences inner conflict and emotional turmoil and grows in self-understanding. Jerri euphemistically tells Andrew that Felton is “going through a time—a time of growth” (64). Herbach explores this theme of coming of age as Felton works through teen angst, develops a new sense of self, faces and overcomes challenges to his new identity, and finds his place in the larger world around him.
Felton exhibits many characteristics typical of adolescent angst. He is short-tempered and rude to Andrew and Jerri. He sleeps a lot and vents his frustration by playing his dad’s loud music. He is primarily focused on himself and dismissive of Jerri and Andrew’s feelings. Felton tests authority and exhibits oppositional behavior, scornfully arguing with Jerri so frequently Andrew believes Felton is “making her crazy” (43). Jerri voices a frustration common to many teenagers’ parents when she says, “I don’t know what to do with you” (34). At the same time, Felton is sensitive to criticism and wants Jerri’s love and approval; he wishes he could make Jerri proud the way Andrew does. Felton is easily embarrassed, discomfited by his rapid physical changes, and quick to put himself down.
Several of Felton’s behaviors, like his extreme anger outbursts, self-judgment, and persistent anxiety, point to signs of mental health conditions like depression, though Felton is in many ways the “normal damn teenager” he aspires to be (115). Felton is at the stage in life where he is trying to find out who he is and what he wants to be. At the start of his narrative, Felton has a negative self-image. He sees himself as a bullied, social klutz with no appreciable skill, and a lot of emotional baggage: a “Squirrel Nut.” Gus confirms his and Felton’s low opinions of themselves, saying “We’re losers” (27).
Felton’s physical changes and his brave choice to join the football team open the door to new opportunities and give Felton the chance to try on a new identity. His speed and strength grant him social inclusion and Felton’s self-confidence grows. Felton recognizes that he “changed into another human being completely in one day” (93). Felton happily leans into his new self-image. He is proud to be “a brawny pee-smeller with fur and muscles” (83). Felton takes pride in his new identity labels. He is a boyfriend and a football player, roles that increase his self-esteem. He learns how emotionally important physical activity is. His new feelings of acceptance and self-confidence allow him to change his opinion of things outside himself: The “honkies” he has hated for years are no longer just ignorant thugs, but friends.
Felton tries to keep his new self separate from his old self; his outer confidence apart from his inner self-doubt. He appreciates having an identity that is not attached to his family and what he perceives as his family’s abnormality: “I liked being somebody I’d never been before; someone not connected to what was happening at home; somebody who is obviously not a Reinstein, because, I thought, Reinsteins aren’t football-playing powerhouses who make their girlfriends squeal with the massive power of their god-like thighs!” (158).
His home life challenges Felton’s new sense of self. He hides his familial problems so they do not affect his outside life, but they affect his inner life and self-talk. Felton’s outside, “barbarian” life is full and rewarding, while his life at home is filled with anxiety and denial. He wrestles with two conflicting self-images: “football player on the outside; Squirrel Nut Donkey Ass on the inside” (158). Jerri’s crisis and the revelation about his dad form a tipping point in Felton’s life, stripping him of his childhood innocence and causing a crisis of identity. As Felton learns that what he believed about his dad was a lie and deals with Jerri’s betrayal, his self-esteem crashes.
Felton feels angry at being forced into roles that he did not know about or desire because of his similarity to his dad. He tells Grandma, “Maybe I don’t appreciate being responsible for Jerri cracking up. Maybe I don’t appreciate that I look just like my asshole dad. Maybe, huh?” (269). Felton wrestles with missing his dad, wishing his dad loved him, and hating his dad and Jerri. His inner conflict causes him to doubt his new identity. He shuns his new friends and Aleah, believing they rejected him first. He retreats physically into his basement room and mentally into negative self-talk. He rejects sports to distance himself from his dad’s memory and to keep from hurting Jerri further. At the same time, Felton begins to be more other-focused: empathizing with Jerri’s teenage pregnancy and attempting to take on the role of Jerri’s caretaker.
Thanks to his friends, Aleah, and Jerri, Felton ultimately recognizes that people care about him for himself. Jerri tells him that Steven’s athleticism was a gift that gave him peace and happiness—and the photograph shows that Steven did love Felton. With his emotional conflict moving towards closure, his self-confidence restored, and his new niche in society reaffirmed, Felton at last feels comfortable with his mental, emotional, and physical changes: He is becoming an adult.
