Allergic

The configuration in the minivan as the family leaves to go to the pet shelter illustrates the family dynamics as Maggie sees them. Her parents are in the front talking about the baby. She sees her parents as partners and worries about the baby being more important to them than she is. Her twin brothers are in the backseat, playing around. She’s frequently annoyed by their rambunctious behavior. In addition, because they’re twins, she sees them as a pair and doesn’t believe that they need her. This is her birthday, and she’s alone in the middle of the car, part of a family but, in her eyes, not the most important person to anyone. In graphic novels, the illustrations do most of the storytelling, and the illustration of the family in the car clearly shows how Maggie is a part of the family but feels set apart. A minivan is an apt symbol for her feelings because minivans symbolize and are central to family life. Maggie’s desire for a puppy is her response to this feeling of isolation. She knows that any dog would belong to the whole family but believes that she’ll be the most important person to the puppy. Finally, she thinks, she’ll have someone who belongs to her and who loves her the most. For her, the puppy is about much more than just having a pet: It’s an answer to her loneliness and her desire to be wanted. She’s therefore devastated when they leave the shelter without the puppy she chose.

Maggie tends to want to ignore facts that would prevent her from getting a dog, prioritizing feelings and desires over facts and science. This tendency is evident in her thoughts as she and her mother enter the allergy clinic. She tries to convince herself that she’s just sick despite the fact that her symptoms developed directly after touching the puppy and letting it lick her. Maggie’s need for a companion is so great that she’s willing to ignore evidence that doesn’t support this need. In addition, she has strong emotions, and in this situation, she lets her emotions rather than the facts dictate what she believes and hopes for.

The way the story unfolds implies that the novel has multiple purposes. As with most novels, one purpose is to entertain, but another is to help people who have allergies feel less alone by building empathy for them. This introduces the novel’s theme of Empathy and Compassion. In addition, the novel seeks to educate readers about allergies by providing information in numerous ways. In Chapter 2, the novel educates through the doctor, who explains to Maggie what allergies are. She describes the immune system in simple terms and tells Maggie about what animals she’ll have the worst allergic reactions to. Maggie’s reaction is more severe than the reaction of many people to animals, which helps dramatize the events to keep readers engaged while learning about this medical condition. The novel presents the story at a middle-grade level to impart this information to children who may not know what allergies really are. The book expands on this educational content in later chapters, but from the earliest chapters, the novel informs as it entertains.

At numerous points in the story, Maggie’s bedroom symbolizes who she is and illustrates her struggle to define herself amid changing circumstances. As the novel opens, her room is yellow, and she has some drawings on the wall. When she learns that she can’t ever have the type of pet she wants, however, she destroys her room. This action creates empathy for her because it symbolizes how, at this point in her life, her idea of herself is facing challenges that destroy what she has envisioned for her life. Her whole world is being turned upside down: Even though her family hasn’t moved, she must start attending a new school where she doesn’t know anyone. In addition, her family is changing with the impending birth of a new baby, and now she learns she has a medical condition that prohibits her from getting the one thing she thinks will make her life better. She feels as if her world is falling down around her, and she alters her room because she has always seen it as a reflection of who she is. As her self-perception deteriorates, so does her room. Because a bedroom is often the only place in a home that a child has control over, her bedroom is a fitting symbol for how she sees her life and her faltering control over it.

When the family jokes around and roughhouses together, they demonstrate the joys of a large family dynamic. This is significant because throughout most of the novel, Maggie ignores the benefits of this dynamic. She’s well aware of the downfalls of a big family because her brothers constantly annoy her. Despite having all these people around her, Maggie feels lonely; for her, constant companionship isn’t a natural by-product of a large family. Still, her family is loving, and while she doesn’t always see it, they do try to prioritize her needs. Despite her inability to always see it, this scene of the family playing together on the floor illustrates their loving home atmosphere.