Rodrick Rules

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2008

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Part 2, Chapters 4-6

Part 3, Chapters 7-8

Part 4, Chapters 9-11

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Character Analysis

Greg Heffley

Greg Heffley is a middle school student and the protagonist of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Greg is the middle child in his family with one older brother and one younger brother, and much of the novel focuses on his family dynamics with his siblings and his parents. Throughout the series, Greg uses his journals to tell stories about his life, his friends, his family, and his goal to become popular at his middle school. However, Jeff Kinney depicts Greg as an insecure person who struggles with dishonestly, irresponsibility, and insecurity.

At the beginning of the novel, Kinney reiterates Greg’s track record of leaving tasks unfinished and giving up halfway through. In the opening pages of the journal, Greg admits that his father signed him up for the swim team over the summer, but Greg started to hide out in the bathroom during swim practices because, he reasons, “Halfway through the summer, [he] decided [he] was pretty much done with swim team” (8). When Greg learns that he will have a pen pal in his French class, he decides that he doesn’t want to write in French like he is supposed to. In addition, Greg brags about all of the ways he cuts corners when it comes to his schoolwork: He copies off of the smartest kids in class, never conducts any research when he has to write essays, and when it comes to book reports, Greg just writes “exactly what the teacher wants to hear” (50) to get a decent grade. Ironically, Greg is imaginative and quick-thinking, and Kinney implies that Greg could get good grades if he tried harder, but Greg is more focused on the social aspects of within his school.

Greg may not apply himself when it comes to his schoolwork, but he desperately wants to be popular. To earn public recognition, Greg’s attempts at getting attention often center around using other people. When Rowley comes back from South America and earns the admiration of the other students, Greg starts “parading Rowley around the cafeteria, because after all, he IS [Greg’s] best friend” (34), and he tries to ride Rowley’s coattails. Greg likes to brag that he is the one responsible for starting jokes such as calling Peter Uteger “P.U.” and bullying Chirag with the “Invisible Chirag” incident. Although Greg occasionally wonders if he is going too far with his bullying, he always manages to convince himself that he’s making a sacrifice for the “greater good,” that people will finally appreciate him if he puts down enough of his peers. When Greg finally achieves popularity thanks to a misunderstanding, he refuses to “set the record straight,” because he is finally “the hero at school” (214).

Rodrick Heffley

Rodrick Heffley is Greg’s older brother and the antagonist in Rodrick Rules. Although Greg and Rodrick have had their differences in the past, the friction between them continues to build in the second novel of the series until things come to blows in the final chapters. Rodrick has a track record of laziness and dishonesty, but he has big dreams about the life he wants and the things that he is passionate about.

Early in the novel, Greg establishes a pattern of antagonistic behavior he receives from Rodrick. He explains that Rodrick is always looking for a way to mess with him—by picking him up late from swim practice, forcing Greg to sit in the back of his van while he hits as many speed bumps as possible, intentionally spitting milk all over Greg, and stealing Greg’s journal whenever he can. Rodrick makes his disdain for his little brother very clear throughout the novel. Greg reveals that Rodrick is the only one who knows about the embarrassing incident at Leisure Towers, so Greg tries to avoid antagonizing Rodrick in return. Throughout the novel, Rodrick uses this secret to blackmail Greg into doing whatever he wants, including helping Rodrick conceal the truth about the party he throws when their parents go out of town.

Greg often complains about Rodrick’s laziness and how it affects the whole family. Rodrick often avoids doing chores by hiding in the bathroom or his room in the basement, leaving Greg to handle the dishes by himself. Rodrick has also figured out a system when it comes to writing his school essays to ensure that his father does all the work for him, and “a couple days later, Rodrick brings his graded paper home and acts like he did it himself” (47). Greg notes that Rodrick doesn’t care about school, chores, or anything except his band and sleeping. Rodrick’s apathy is well-known and understood throughout the Heffley family, and when Rodrick tries to cash in a bunch of stolen Mom Bucks, Mrs. Heffley knows something is wrong because “Rodrick has never earned a single Mom Buck on his own” (150) despite her attempts to make him do chores and earn money. Rodrick prioritizes his band and its success instead of his responsibilities at home or school, and his perceived lack of ambition worries his parents.

Rowley Jefferson

Rowley Jefferson is Greg’s best friend and a secondary character throughout the series. The first book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series focuses on Greg’s friendship with Rowley, and Kinney continues to explore Greg and Rowley’s unusual relationship throughout Rodrick Rules. Rowley is a foil to Greg: Whereas Greg is devious, lazy, and desperate to grow up and be popular, Rowley is genuine, with childlike wonder and naivety.

Unlike Greg, Rowley doesn’t care about doing things that will make him look cool or popular. Despite this, Rowley is liked and trusted by his peers, which annoys Greg and makes him jealous. Greg complains that Rowley doesn’t understand the first thing about being cool: Rowley wears a “ridiculous costume” (33) when he returns to school from a trip to South America, but the other students flock to him and “[start] kissing his butt” (33) to learn more about his trip. When Rowley learns that he would be well-suited for a career as a nurse, he is surrounded by girls who want to talk to him about it. Time and time again, Rowley finds himself accidentally stumbling into popularity because of his sweet, likable demeanor. Rowley isn’t afraid of humiliation the same way that Greg is. Greg feels threatened by Rowley’s self-confidence, emphasizing his own lack of self-confidence that starkly contrasts the friends.

Kinney highlights Rowley’s love for childhood pastimes: He enjoys playing with action figures, having themed birthday parties with the younger kids in his karate class, and spending time with his parents. In fact, Rowley looks up to Greg the way a younger sibling might and even asks for a diary for his birthday so he and Greg can be “diary twins.” Although Greg is quickly tiring of this imitation, Rowley admires Greg and wants to show his love for his friend by trying to form a sibling-like bond with him. While Greg is one of three children, Rowley is an only child, and Greg is the closest thing Rowley has to a brother. Despite the fact that Greg consistently mistreats Rowley, Rowley sticks by Greg’s side.

Mr. and Mrs. Heffley

Greg’s parents—Mr. and Mrs. Heffley—are secondary characters throughout the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Mrs. Heffley is extroverted and creative, while Mr. Heffley is introverted, traditional, and bothered by ostentatious displays. Together, the Heffleys have high expectations for their children, and they try their best to strike a balance between being firm and supportive.

Throughout Rodrick Rules, Greg notices that his mother is fixated on the idea of forcing her two oldest sons to bond. Mrs. Heffley is tired of Greg and Rodrick’s constant fighting, and she tries everything she can think of to bridge the gap between the boys. From encouraging them to play Magick and Monsters to bribing Rodrick to give Greg drum lessons, Mrs. Heffley is determined to teach her sons how to get along. Mrs. Heffley holds her boys to a high standard, and she is quick to hold her children accountable. However, she is also enormously supportive of their interests. although Greg and his father can’t stand Rodrick’s music, Mrs. Heffley is quick to defend Rodrick when Mr. Heffley complains about Rodrick’s band practices and the teenagers gathering outside their home. Greg views his mom as suffocating at times, like when she wants to play Magick and Monsters with Greg, and she asks if her character can be Greg’s character’s mother. Mrs. Heffley takes her role as a mom seriously, and she longs for meaningful connections with her children.

Mr. Heffley holds his children to a high standard as well, but he is easily discouraged when his sons fail to meet his expectations. Mr. Heffley wishes his sons were athletic and embodied stereotypical masculine roles, so he sees Rodrick’s heavy metal band as a disappointment. Greg notices that during the talent show, his father is “standing in the back of the gym with cotton balls sticking out of his ears, and he stay[s] there until the song was over” (199). Mr. Heffley enjoys spending quiet time by himself, working on his miniature Civil War battlefield, and Greg thinks his father would be “happy to spend the whole weekend working on his battlefield” (26). Mr. Heffley is a perfectionist, intervening and correcting many of Rodrick’s essays over the years. However, by the end of Rodrick Rules, Greg suspects that his father has finally learned his lesson, because he refuses to help Greg with his last-minute scramble to write his history essay.