Whirligig

When the reader is introduced to Brent, his defining characteristic is his social anxiety. His priorities are material possessions and status. His interests seem confined to cars, clothes, and video games. Immersed in games and TV, Brent expects instant gratification and is prone to throwing tantrums when he does not get his way. He craves approval from others but his interactions with Chaz and Briana—for example, when she shouts at him, “can’t you take a hint?”—imply that, despite his efforts to appear cool, a lack of self-awareness leads to failure (14).His disastrous reaction to the rejection he encounters at the party is a manifestation of both his impatient, quick-tempered character and the inner emptiness arising from his emotionally repressed and shallow lifestyle. Brent’s drunk driving and suicide attempt also point to an ignorance of the lesson he will learn throughout the rest of the book: that actions can have far-reaching and unintended consequences.

The dinner scene provides clues to Brent’s character. The family talks little and the conversation centers on products shown on the commercials on TV. Later in the book, Brent will be amazed to hear vibrant conversations about world affairs, nature, and history. While Brent is consumed with anxiety about the party that night, and his father is evidently stressed by work, nobody discusses their feelings. The family does not seem close nor, despite their new affluence, do they seem happy. Brent’s reflections about the family’s move suggest that they have actually become more unhappy in correlation with their increased wealth.

The human chess game that takes place at Chaz’s party is a metaphor for the politics of high school popularity. Chaz, as the dominant boy of the class, is appropriately the organizer of the game. Dressed in the wrong color, in neither black nor white but in red, Brent does not fit into the game at all; as the story progresses, he becomes less concerned with fitting in and redefines his notions of community. Whereas at the party he is helpless as Chaz moves him about like a bishop chess piece, Brent’s later comparison of himself to a rook will highlight his autonomous movement on his journey.

Whirligig’s chapters follow alternating perspectives and nonlinear time. Brent’s sections are in third-person perspective while the other chapters are told from a first-person view. This structure mirrors the main themes of the book. It portrays a group whose members do not know they are connected, also known as a karass. The alternating structure also reflects the motion of whirligigs. Primarily, it reinforces the theme that actions can lead to unforeseen consequences in faraway times and places. In keeping with this theme, the chapter “Weeksboro, Maine” takes place years after Brent’s trip. The long-abandoned house is the same one where the painter lives in the last chapter. Alexandra’s insistence that thoughts have consequences expands on this main theme of cause-and-effect.

Each of the characters who encounters one of Brent’s whirligigs in the first-person chapters comes to associate it with a different idea. For Steph, it represents an acceptance of the existence of “unseen forces,” a concept that is generally contrary to her highly logical nature (26).