65 pages • 2 hours read
AviA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Questions of fear and how one reacts to it are at the heart of the novel. Poppy’s primary arc in the narrative centers her struggle to overcome fear and find her courage. Through the juxtaposition between protagonist and antagonist, the novel examines how fear is an integral part of forming both tyrants and heroes—it is one’s reactions to it that determine one’s role as either the former or the latter.
The novel opens with a stark depiction of fear on both sides: Mr. Ocax, the inflictor, and Poppy, the victim. During the course of the novel, however, these roles invert themselves, as Mr. Ocax’s fears are revealed and Poppy learns to move through fear to see past Mr. Ocax’s lies. Fear becomes the central motif through which this theme is conveyed, with each character’s experiences and confrontations with fear informing their roles and personal development in the story, making up the development of this theme in turn.
By Avi
City of Orphans
Avi
Crispin: At the Edge of the World
Avi
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Avi
Nothing But The Truth
Avi
The Fighting Ground
Avi
The Man Who Was Poe
Avi
The Secret School
Avi
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Avi
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Animals in Literature
View Collection
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Fear
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Jewish American Literature
View Collection
Juvenile Literature
View Collection
Power
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection