Bluefish

Grandpa is Travis’s grandfather and has been his primary caretaker/guardian since Travis’s parents died when he was three years old. When Travis’s parents died when he was three, Grandpa assumed custody of Travis, which was not part of his plan. This situation challenged Grandpa because raising a young child is difficult, costly, time-consuming, and emotionally exhausting (albeit rewarding). Grandpa has been abusing alcohol for years, seemingly in an attempt to “cope” with the challenge of losing his son and raising Travis. However, his alcohol abuse does not make his grief disappear, and it actually makes raising Travis harder, not easier. At the beginning of the novel, Grandpa has recently quit drinking and started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. To Travis, Grandpa still seems cold, uncaring, and rough around the edges. He’s also been inattentive, not realizing that Travis can’t read and often neglecting to cook dinner or buy groceries. Travis sometimes hits Grandpa or lunges at him violently. Grandpa sometimes pushes back, but more often, he just drives away in his truck and stops speaking to Travis. Travis’s relationship with Grandpa has been pretty destructive for years, which develops the theme of Coping with Loss and Family Trauma.

Despite Travis’s rocky past with Grandpa, they manage to turn their relationship around and start mutually healing later in the novel. This turnaround suggests that just because a family has not always been perfect does not mean positive changes can’t be made or that all is lost. Grandpa recommits to being a good parental figure to Travis when he quits drinking and again when he tells him the truth about Rosco: that he accidentally killed him by running him over. Previously, Grandpa let Travis believe that Rosco ran away, which prevented Travis from grieving properly and from attaining closure. Travis was still hoping that Rosco would return, which kept him stuck in a false reality. Grandpa’s admission of Rosco’s death is actually an act of grace, and it’s also graceful when he takes Travis to visit Rosco’s grave so he can process the death and pay his respects. Lastly, Grandpa gives Rosco’s collar and rabies tag to Travis because he needs it more than Grandpa does. It used to be Grandpa’s reminder not to drink anymore, but now, Grandpa says Travis is his reminder. This statement symbolizes Grandpa’s newfound commitment to being a caretaker/guardian to Travis. Commitment to parenthood and guardianship can be renewed at any moment, not just at a child’s moment of birth or the transfer of custody.

Rosco was Travis and Grandpa’s dog, who had been with Grandpa since before Travis’s parents died. After Travis’s parents died, Rosco became extremely attached to Travis. Although he was a dog and not a human, Travis remarks, “What was Rosco? Mother father and a couple of brothers? Best friend? All that and more” (212). Rosco is dead for the entire book, but he’s still an important character because of how preoccupied Travis is with him. Also, Travis doesn’t know Rosco is dead for most of the novel—he believes Rosco ran away until Grandpa finally admits that he accidentally ran him over with his truck. This admission may seem like a cruel truth to tell Travis, but in reality, knowing that Rosco died is more helpful for Travis’s grieving process than holding onto hope that he might reappear on their doorstep one day.

Rosco helps develop the theme of Coping with Loss and Family Trauma. Travis’s first step in coping with grief is recognizing the truth. Still, once Rosco’s gone, at first, Travis feels crushed under the weight of grief from losing what feels like his whole family. In talking about their respective grief, Travis and Velveeta come to understand that death is not the same thing as total loss. This realization illustrates how opening up and discussing emotions with others can help with processing, despite Travis’s previous fear of vulnerability and being “seen.” Travis realizes that he still had many important years with Rosco, and Rosco’s influence and memory are not erased by his death. Grief is a confirmation of love rather than an end of love, and although this knowledge doesn’t bring Rosco back to life, it does help Travis heal and also hold on to the positive influence Rosco had on him.

Velveeta is an eighth grader at Travis’s new school and his closest friend that he makes in the novel. Velveeta also narrates short sections of text in between each section in the first person. At first, Velveeta writes these sections directly to Calvin, her neighbor, best friend, and stand-in father figure who recently died. Velveeta struggles deeply with grief over Calvin because he was the best “family” member she had, and he helped her become who she is. With Calvin gone, Velveeta worries she’ll slip into a worse version of herself. Velveeta helps develop the theme of Coping with Loss and Family Trauma. She learns that Calvin’s death doesn’t negate the positive influence he had on her and that nothing can take this away. However, unlike Travis, Velveeta does not seem to reconcile with her actual family. She “hates” her older brother, Jimmy, and doesn’t have much respect for her mother, an alcoholic who neglects her. Still, she refuses to give up on herself even after Calvin’s death. Discussing her grief with Travis and reading books recommended by McQueen helps Velveeta remain strong.

Velveeta is outwardly quirky, humorous, outgoing, and quick-witted. However, she gets frustrated when other kids think these qualities are all there is to her. Other kids enjoy chatting with her at school, but nobody besides Calvin tries to get to know her on a deeper level or invites her to activities outside of school. When she meets Travis, it’s a revelation, and Velveeta experiences The Development of Friendship and Its Role in Personal Growth. Previously, Velveeta, like Travis, was afraid of being vulnerable, but with Travis, she learns that opening up to others is the ticket to getting them to understand that she’s more than an “entertainment monkey.” Velveeta is extremely smart, conscientious, creative, and helpful. She finds purpose in helping Travis learn to read because this feels overwhelmingly more important than engaging in vapid, pointless gossip with her other peers.

“The madre” is what Velveeta calls her mother, with whom she lives. This name reflects Velveeta’s distant relationship with her mother because she uses the article “the” instead of “my.” Velveeta’s mother is often inattentive, neglectful, and drunk. For example, she forgets to buy school supplies for Velveeta and never ensures she’s done her homework or attends parent-teacher conferences. When Velveeta leaves for the day or spends the night in Calvin’s empty trailer, her mom doesn’t ask where she’s been, and sometimes, when Velveeta comes home, her mom seems annoyed that she’s there. However, even though Velveeta’s mom has a lot of negative qualities, she displays positive qualities, too: “The madre is so many different people. Am I going to get the face-slapping mean madre or the fun card-playing madre or the crying-in-her-beer madre? I never know. Sometimes it makes my head want to spin off” (126). Madre complicates the theme of Coping with Loss and Family Trauma, illustrating how some family members may cause trauma in some situations and joy in others. This fluctuation can make it more difficult to know how to proceed with the relationship (or cut it off).

Jimmy is Velveeta’s older brother, who is an adult. He’s never shown speaking, because Velveeta avoids him whenever he comes over. Velveeta hates Jimmy because he’s irresponsible, careless, and takes advantage of their mother. It’s implied he’s a drug dealer, and Velveeta is embarrassed by him. She’s also embarrassed by her mom and their living situation in a trailer court, so she never invites any friends over or tells anyone where she lives. Unfortunately, Velveeta never reconciles with Jimmy, nor does she develop any nuance in her view of him. To her, he has zero redeeming qualities and is better off moving away so she doesn’t have to see or think about him. Although this is bleak, in reality, sometimes family members are so bad that it’s better to cut ties with them.

Calvin was Velveeta’s next-door neighbor, best friend, and stand-in father figure. Although he’s already dead at the beginning of the novel, he’s an important character because Velveeta is grieving him deeply and even writes to him in most of the sections she narrates. From Velveeta’s reports, Calvin was caring, smart, and responsible. He helps develop the theme of Coping with Loss and Family Trauma in two ways. First, he helps Velveeta cope with her family trauma by stepping in as a father figure in the absence of Velveeta’s father, and her mother doesn’t fulfill certain parental duties. For example, Velveeta’s mother doesn’t check up on her homework or lecture her, so Calvin does these things instead. He also educates her about stories and movies, which helps her become more well-rounded and thoughtful. Velveeta celebrates Calvin because she feels like he helped her become a better person than she would have been otherwise.

Calvin also develops the theme of coping with loss because, when he dies, Velveeta has a new challenge facing her and has to find new coping mechanisms. At first, she spends a lot of time in Calvin’s empty trailer, writes letters to him, and wears his deceased wife’s scarves that he gifted to her. These actions don’t bring Calvin back to life, but they help Velveeta realize that his influence and love are not eradicated just because he’s dead. Nothing can rob Velveeta of the positive ways that Calvin impacted her. Even when Calvin’s daughter bans Velveeta from returning to the trailer and takes most of the scarves away, Velveeta still doesn’t think this means Calvin is erased from her life. Velveeta also learns to trust and confide in others, such as Connie and Travis, as she used to do with Calvin.

McQueen is a Reading teacher, and Travis, Velveeta, and Bradley are in his class. He’s quirky, smart, fun, and friendly, and he uses some unconventional teaching methods. He’s a great teacher because he’s dedicated, loves his subject matter (literature), believes in his students, and is willing to do whatever’s necessary to reach students. McQueen helps develop The Challenges and Transformative Power of Literacy. At first, Travis is resistant to Reading class because of how much he struggled with reading at his old school. Also, the classroom feels small and claustrophobic. Travis is embarrassed by struggles and tries to hide them from his teachers, including McQueen. However, because McQueen is smart and observant, he realizes that Travis can’t read and offers to help him learn if he wants to. Travis decides to learn to read because McQueen shows him a glimpse of the joy and wonder that reading provides, seems confident that Travis can learn, and does not diminish Travis’s efforts by implying that he’s not trying.

McQueen demonstrates how powerful a single good teacher can be. All it took for Travis to turn his academic performance and self-confidence around was for one teacher to put in extra effort and believe in his potential. Once Travis makes progress with reading, McQueen encourages him to make changes in his other classes, too. He convinces Travis that there’s no shame in using the assistive technologies that are available to students who need learning accommodations. Far from being shameful, using these technologies allows Travis to participate and learn in his other classes, whereas previously, he was just sitting in the classrooms doing nothing because he’d given up.

Bradley is another eighth-grade student and a new friend of Travis and Velveeta’s. Bradley is highly intelligent, and everyone knows it—he’s often bullied for being a “nerd” and does not try to hide his intelligence or his eccentric interests. He’s also the only Black student in their class and comes from an upper-class, loving, attentive family. Bradley enjoys certain privileges that Travis and Velveeta do not have, but he’s oppressed in different ways. At first, Velveeta and Travis somewhat resent Bradley because he has two loving parents, home-cooked meals for lunch, fancy shoes, multiple computers and video games, and ample school supplies. In contrast, Velveeta and Travis don’t always have proper clothes and shoes or basic, required school supplies, and partake in the free lunch program, where they’re fed unhealthy meals full of empty calories that don’t provide proper nutrition. At first, Velveeta even assumes that Bradley is just sitting with them at lunch so he can research the types of things that “normal” kids talk about so he can appear less weird and nerdy to his parents and peers. However, Bradley illustrates that there’s more to most people than meets the eye (just like there’s more to Travis and Velveeta than most people give them credit for).

Each of the three friends faces unique challenges, and they don’t necessarily understand each other right away. However, they get along well once they give each other a chance, and their strengths complement each other. For example, Travis helps physically protect Bradley from bullies, and Travis and Velveeta both coach Bradley on how to act in ways that deter bullies from targeting him in the future. In return, Bradley supports Travis in his nonconformist personality and helps convince him that he’s smart, not stupid, despite having been in the “bluefish” reading group at his old school. The relationship between Bradley, Travis, and Velveeta illustrates The Development of Friendship and Its Role in Personal Growth.