Meryl Lee Kowalski Character Analysis

“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”-Shakespeare. In Gary D. Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars,we didn’t realize Meryl Lee Kowalski’s full potential until later in the novel. Meryl Lee Kowalski is fierce, sweet and smart. She learns what love is and that people can be stupid, but if you love them you can eventually forgive them.

At the beginning of the novel Meryl Lee is more of a background character. She doesn’t make many major impacts, and she echoes those around her. At the beginning of the school year Holling is trying to find anyone to agree with him that Mrs. Baker is out to get him: “You are paranoid”(28), just like everyone else he complained to. This is telling Holling that everyone thinks he’s overreacting. Later in the book, Meryl Lee also threatens: “You owe us all cream puffs” (38). This is a building block of the whole book, it shows that she can be fierce. You can see that even though she wasn’t a major character, she had her moments, let’s look at those next.

Meryl Lee has evolved. She is no longer just the girl who is willing to murder for cream puffs, she has other emotions, like these : after Meryl lee’s dad copies Holling’s dad’s design, Holling

At the end of April Holling and Meryl Lee share a kiss, “But I sure could feel it when she leaned close to my face and… Well, I don’t have to tell you everything”(207). This shows that even though their fathers are competing that they can still like each other. By the end of the book Meryl Lee guesses that Holling has changed, and is appreciated for it: “Meryl Lee. Can the world buy such a jewel?”(261). This shows how Holling greatly appreciates Meryl Lee for noticing right away, and it makes him realize that he has changed. In the end, Meryl Lee has learned that: you can overcome any obstacle if you try hard enough, and that people can be dumb, but you can eventually forgive