Paul Fleischman's 'Whirligig'

Title:
Whirligig

Setting:
Brent lives in Chicago, Illinois, when his life crashes he is sent on a mission across the country to Washington; California; Florida and Maine.

Conflict:
Brent’s choice to attempt and end his life causes a major conflict when his plan backfires. He is now faced with knowing that he ended 18 year old, Lea Zamoras life. This Internal conflict is apparent throughout the book as Brent tries to restart and put his past life behind him.

Characters:
Brent Bishop
Lea Zamora
Jonathan Kovitz
Chaz
Briana
Brent’s Parents
Mrs. Zamora
Miss. Gill

Theme:
The theme of Whirligig by Paul Fleischman is that all actions have consequences whether that be positive or negative. Brent was followed by his actions after the crash and

Giving Brent hope and confidence, and showing him that all actions have consequences whether they be big or small; good or bad everything we do impacts someone else.

‘“People are not all Hitler, kindelah. People are very good also, like the one who made this wind toy to give happiness to everyone who pass. … When the bad memories came back in my head, here I walked to remind myself of this.’” (pg 114)

This passage shows that we are meant to forgive ourselves or others no matter what horrible things have happened. And once we forgive we learn to see the beauty in our lives rather than the struggles and pain that we have gone through. “‘ I could be wildly wrong. But my sense of you is that you’re a good person, not a bad one.” … This, though, was different– hearing himself forgiven freely, by someone he trusted. He wasn’t sure, though, that she knew enough to forgive him. He told her the story in detail. It didn’t seem to change her mind.” (pg 129)

In this passage Brent learns that just because you did something bad it doesn't make you a bad person. The woman who owns the lighthouse, accepts Brent and believes he is a good person. Although, Brent tries to tell her otherwise she genuinely believes that, his one mistake does not define him as a