Better Nate Than Ever

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-8

Chapters 9-14

Chapters 15-20

Chapters 21-31

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Small Town Versus Big City

When Nate Foster boards a Greyhound bus to New York, he notices that everything from the décor to the passengers is gray. He uses the same adjective to describe his hometown. Jankburg is a small town populated by small-minded people. They have no aspirations beyond their own insular world. While Nate fills out his audition form, he’s asked which parts of E.T. he connects with most. His reaction to the question is an indictment of his town:

Oh, Lord, this is like psychology. This is the kind of thing people in Jankburg make fun of, the kind of flamboyant stuff that got the arts funding all but cut from my school in the first place. The only thing children should be connecting to, my dad would say, is each other, in a football uniform. Or connecting to a blasted scholarship (61).

Nate’s use of the word “flamboyant” indicates what he loves most about New York. While Jankburg can only be described in various shades of gray, New York offers a multicolor pageant on every street corner. Although Nate is visiting the city during Halloween, New York is so diverse that every day seems like Halloween. He says:

The rain went away, and every other person was in a Halloween costume. All this, before the sun was barely up. Like New York is so ready for a party, full-on grown-ups are willing to go as Groucho Marx to work, to ride the subway in a scratchy fake moustache (235).

Unlike the citizens of Jankburg, the people of New York are tolerant of eccentricities. Nate finds this trait appealing not only because of his odd physical appearance and love of show tunes but because of his own nascent sexual identity. Everyone in Jankburg assumes Nate is gay, and bullies harass him because of it. In New York, Nate glimpses through the door of a gay dance club and is thrilled by what he sees:

I gain this perfect portal into a world I’m not even allowed into, not for so many years. For forever. A world where guys who look like me and probably liked the Phantom movie, too, can dance next to other guys who probably liked Phantom and not get threatened or assaulted (188).

Nate has no reference for how dreary his hometown is until he gets off the bus in New York. Once in the big city, he realizes that he’s found his real home. Like the titular alien in E.T., all Nate wants to do is find his way home—and he realizes that home will never be Jankburg.

Standing Out in Context

Because Nate has been raised in a community of conformists, he has always been seen as an outsider. His small size, overbite, and obsession with musicals all mark him as an oddity. In a community of conformists, standing out poses risk. Nate has been a target of bullies all his life. This is true even when he goes out of his way to fit in. At a Christian youth camp, he announced his religious conversion on a stage like everybody else, but it didn’t work out well. He explains:

I thought it would make me belong, somehow. To a club. Any club. Any club that would have Nate Foster as a member. And that night, having just welcomed Jesus Christ into my regular cast of characters, I got beat up outside the camp cafeteria by Larry Motlie and his Motlie Crew (all of my bullies have great gang names), who politely informed me that “God hates fags” (175).

Even when Nate wants to fit in with “normal people,” he can’t seem to manage it. However, standing out from the crowd is an asset should a person aspire to become an actor. Granted, Nate distinguishes himself with his quirks more so than his acting talent, but this represents a start in the right direction. The casting crew is impressed by his audition, though one of them admits, “We can’t figure out what makes you so memorable” (152). Perhaps Nate’s years of alienation from his family and town give him insight into the plight of a little alien trying to find his way home.

Nate’s trip to New York teaches him that context is everything. While he’s viewed as strange in Jankburg, he’s considered a rising talent in New York. The very characteristics that earned him multiple beatings from school bullies are valued among the theater crowd. Nate is unique in Jankburg, but Jankburg is a town that finds uniqueness threatening. By contrast, New York is teeming with so many eccentric people that someone needs to be truly odd to be considered unique. Nate’s short height and ability to walk on his knees are both necessary for the role of E.T. No one else who auditioned for the show possesses his combination of traits along with a good singing voice. The approval of theater people helps Nate value himself as he is. The only thing he needed to change was his surroundings. He reflects:

One good kid who gets a lot of things wrong, most of the time, back home, but might be getting everything right, here. A kid who might have found someplace where he doesn’t have to change anything about himself, to fit in.) (A kid going as himself for Halloween, but the best version, the ultimate.) A better Nate than ever (237-38).

The Courage to Dream

A community of conformists, Jankburg discourages dreamers. Nate paints the entire town as gray because this is a color devoid of life. Nobody in his immediate family encourages him to dream of a different future than what might be achieved within the local community. His brother Anthony is lauded for excelling at sports only because this is the conventional dream for a teenage boy to have.

Nate is haunted by the prospect of failure—of unfulfilled potential—as he sees it mirrored in the faces around him. While in New York, the otherwise excited boy imagines returning home in disgrace: “And then at least I can go back to Jankburg with the confirmation that I shouldn’t even be dreaming this dream, and just weave myself firmly back into the tapestry of local boredom. Of the greys of Jankburg” (76-77).

Although Nate himself admits that his dream is inappropriate by the standards of his hometown, he pursues it anyway. He is determined to audition for E.T. despite believing he won’t get a part in the play. It only matters that he tries. No one else in his family dared to realize a dream—no one, except Heidi, and she had to leave Jankburg to do it. Nate reflects:

I remind her too much of all the people in my family who are too closed-minded to accept that she had a New York dream too; that she wouldn’t work at Flora’s Floras and wanted, instead, something more for herself, something different and less grey? (77).

As Better Nate Than Ever unfolds, Nate and the reader learn how deeply the suppression of dreams runs in the family. Heidi’s own parents disowned her for wanting to become an actress. Heidi is haunted by the same fear of failure as Nate, having succumbed to it after some bad reviews and rejections. Her eager nephew teaches her that failure is not an option when one has a dream. Nate’s fearlessness in pursuing what he wants not only awakens a spark of hope in Heidi but his own parents as well. When he receives a call from his father, he gets an unexpected compliment:

“What in the Lord’s name were you thinking, Nathan? Going all the way, without our permission, to a place like New York City?” […] He swallows. Coughs. Grips the phone so hard, the plastic handset creaks. “It was some kind of brave, boy” (227-28).

Even though Nate’s father never had the courage to pursue a dream of his own, he admires his son’s bravery. Nate’s mother has a similar response when her son’s final call comes: “Ring ring. ‘Pick it up, Natey,’ Mom says, taking a deep breath. Deciding to be different this time. ‘Pick it up, SuperBoy’” (270). Nate’s persistence in fulfilling his dream has a ripple effect on those around him—convincing them that life doesn’t have to be so gray.