The Friendship War

Grace’s emotions continue to churn in these chapters, and this inner turmoil contributes to the increasing feud between her and Ellie. Chapters 15 and 16 offer a look at Grace’s life outside of buttons and provide context as to how she tries to deal with the aspects of her life at school that are steadily spinning out of control. To that end, the text message conversation with her grandpa provides some much-needed perspective on the wider world around the intensifying “button fever,” for it is clear that is using the mill to keep himself busy and recover from the grief of his wife’s death. The conversation also foreshadows how Grace will use buttons for a similar purpose. His observation that Grace will be right in the middle of the button fad foreshadows Grace’s decision to spread buttons in the schoolyard and also implies that she might land in real trouble before the fad fades away. The talk between Grace and her mom in Chapter 16 provides yet another angle on the situation by emphasizing the fact that Grace and all of her friends must one day grow up and might therefore grow apart as well. Grace’s realization that her mother has not kept in touch with her own friends from sixth grade highlights the reality that middle school represents such a short part of one’s life. Grace’s mom has completely moved on from that time. To her, middle school is a distant memory that hasn’t had much of an impact on the rest of her life, and this truth stands in stark contrast to Grace’s deep investment in her current social difficulties. The exchange therefore emphasizes that Nothing Lasts Forever and shows how time and distance can profoundly change one’s outlook, for Grace’s feud with Ellie and her anger over the button fad will feel far less important in the final chapter, a month after all the strife of these events has passed.

However, that resolution is still quite far away, and in the meantime, the feud between the girls reaches a new level of intensity that further explores the various Power in Relationships, especially when those relationships turn bitter. In this stage of the proceedings, both girls persist in their behavior despite their sneaking realization that they are acting unkindly to each other. The far-reaching effects of Ellie’s emotional manipulation are also clearly at work, for Grace feels guilty for taking the pinwheel button even though she did nothing wrong. This shows that Ellie’s opinions are still ruling her life. Grace had just as much of a right to trade for the pinwheel button as Ellie did, and she only feels bad now because Ellie is acting resentful over her failure to secure the button for herself. Ellie is also taking out her irritation on the other girl, and it is Grace’s guilt over this fact that convinces her to cede social power to Ellie by returning the button. Giving the pinwheel button back is both a peace offering and a form of submission to Ellie. Grace wants the fight to stop, but she doesn’t yet realize that she cannot simply go backwards to an earlier stage of this interaction. Instead, the only way to resolve the issue is to move forward and see things through to their natural conclusion. Ellie’s cruel act of breaking the pinwheel button thus represents both the literal and the figurative breaking point for Grace. Up until this point, she has done her best to give Ellie the benefit of the doubt, but now, the broken button symbolizes Ellie’s anger and meanness, as well as the shattered condition of Grace and Ellie’s relationship. The button cannot be mended, and if Grace wants to fix her relationship, she will have to work for it. In the following few chapters, however, she chooses the wrong path and learns new lessons about friendship, kindness, and confidence in the process.

Grace’s revenge plan demonstrates the ways in which anger keeps people from thinking clearly. Grace is too upset with Ellie’s cruel actions to recognize that getting revenge won’t fix anything and will, in fact, only make things worse. All Grace knows at this point is that she feels hurt, both by Ellie’s recent actions and by years of Ellie’s mean behavior. Consequently, she wants Ellie to feel just as bad. Grace also doesn’t understand that Ellie isn’t to blame for her feelings. While Ellie may not have been a good friend lately, Grace has put up with it, letting Ellie walk all over her and treat her poorly. Ellie’s behavior might be wrong, but Grace is nonetheless responsible for her own actions and emotions. Her misplaced anger at Ellie actually reveals that she is really angry at herself for not lacking confidence and not asserting herself sooner. Rather than admitting this, though, she finds it easier to blame Ellie. Hank’s decision to distance himself from Grace in Chapter 20 symbolizes how unreasonable and selfish she is now being. As a foil for Ellie, Hank represents the steady, understanding version of friendship, and he sees Grace’s attempt at revenge for what it truly is: her own frustration with herself.