Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

Bobby Hudson is Scott’s older brother. His character is round and dynamic; he changes by the novel’s end. He is living on his own but returns home after he is arrested for outstanding parking tickets. Scott feels insecure compared to Bobby in everything except school. Bobby is “almost as tall as Dad, good with tools, and strong [...]. […] Girls chased him like he was some kind of movie star” (6). He was also a poor student, dropping out of school before graduating. In comparison, Scott is small and bookish, making him feel like he doesn’t fit into the Hudson male mold. Scott worships Bobby and relies upon him for advice concerning life in general, but lately, Bobby has not been answering the phone because he has lost his job and can no longer pay his bills.

Bobby’s return to home leads to tension between the brothers. Scott needs Bobby to be the confident teenager that Scott remembers from when he was younger. But Bobby is grappling with real-life problems. He has no prospects, no diploma, and no way to move forward because of his dark secret: He is functionally illiterate. Bobby’s stress leads to him lashing out at Scott, and when their mother falls and is rushed to the hospital, Bobby leaves again, stating that he can’t deal with the stress. When he returns, he is unshaven and dirty and spends his time in his room playing his guitar. Bobby’s talent as a guitarist is unquestioned, but when his old band invites him to go to Nashville with them to try to break into the music business, he refuses, stating it is too much of a long shot. At this low point, Bobby does not believe that he can be successful at anything, and when Scott presses him to read his article, his brother yells at him and throws it across the room. His rejection of Scott’s success in school is driven by his sense of failure, but his pride will not allow him to ask for help.

After Scott confronts him about not being able to read, the tensions ease between the brothers. Bobby takes an interest in the things that Scott enjoys, attending the school play and letting Scott read his articles to him. Scott encourages Bobby to audition with the band in Nashville and loans him money for gas. Their relationship dynamic changes to a more equal footing. Bobby’s character is the model through which Scott understands that if his hero suffers from such demoralizing secret faults, other tough guys may also have insecurities. This knowledge empowers Scott to stand up to Vernon Dross, who is secretly a coward, and look deeper at Wesley Cobble, who, under the tough exterior, is just another guy who likes little marshmallows in his hot cocoa. 

Wesley Cobble embodies the “Rebel” stereotype: He doesn’t care about school or what others think about him. He doesn’t belong to any group, is often in trouble, and uses his dangerous reputation to extort money from younger students. Scott describes him as “flat-out scary” (96). His arm muscles look like they are made from “granite or steel” (41), and his eyes are deadly. However, he develops an inexplicable liking for Scott, and by the second semester of school, he gives Scott rides every morning and eats lunch with him in the afternoon. Although he is rumored to be the most dangerous student in the school, he is unfailingly polite; when he takes money from the first-year students, he asks first and thanks them afterward. When he knocks out a senior with one punch in the parking lot, he considerately drags the student out of the way of oncoming traffic. He also sees beyond appearances; when he first meets Lee, he recognizes her as the misfit with the controversial tee shirt and tells her that she “has style” (268). By the novel’s end, Scott grasps that Wesley honestly likes people who don’t try to conform to the usual high school cliques, which is why he befriends Scott in the first place.

Wesley’s foil is Kyle. Both boys are or were Scott’s second-best friend, but Wesley provides the positive version of friendship. Unlike Kyle, Wesley demonstrates to Scott that people who are secure in themself don’t have to threaten anyone; they command respect through their confident demeanor. He doesn’t need to belong to a group to feel secure, and he is loyal, unlike Kyle. He also respects Scott; he protects Scott from Vernon in the hallway, but he also respects Scott’s request to let the matter drop when the bully assaults Scott in the multipurpose room. Wesley comes through for Scott when he doesn’t have a ride to the dance, even going so far as to borrow a limo so Scott can impress his date. He breaks the law to get Scott’s family to the emergency room when Mom is in labor, speeding despite the police car pursuing them. In contrast to Kyle, Wesley puts himself on the line for Scott, showing Scott what true friendship looks like.

Mouth Kandeski is a classmate of Scott’s whom he’s known since kindergarten. Lubar employs indirect characterization to portray Mouth as a “Loner” stereotype; although Mouth desperately desires to have friends, he is constantly rebuffed. He is a round character, dynamic character; his character is well-developed, and his decision to attempt suicide produces a drastic change in his personality and affects Scott’s character arc dramatically.

Mouth enters the narrative, “dribbling a trail of words like a leaking milk carton” (10), a description that focuses on his most significant trait: talking obsessively to anyone who will listen. His motivations are driven by his desperation to find friends; Scott is the only student who listens to him, but even he tries to avoid Mouth as much as possible, fearing that other students will think they are friends. While high school is a time of overwhelming change for Scott, it is tragically the same for Mouth. He fails at making new friends and is a victim of bullies. Even though he asks every single girl to dance during the first semester, he neglects to get even one to assent. Mouth symbolizes how devastating non-conformity can be, and Scott’s reassurances to himself that Mouth is resilient and happy allow him to salve his conscience about how wretched Mouth’s situation truly is. When Mouth attempts suicide, Scott is wracked with guilt. He visits Mouth in the hospital, but their roles are reversed: Scott needs to talk to Mouth to alleviate his guilt, while Mouth, who is mostly uncommunicative due to his throat injury, tries to cheer Scott up. Mouth’s attempted suicide is the impetus that informs Scott’s decision to stand up against the bullies in school; immediately after the hospital visit, he talks Wesley out of taking money from younger students and stops Danny from making jokes about Mouth. By the novel’s close, even though Mouth no longer attends J. P. Zenger High, he and Scott write to each other regularly.

Lee transfers to J. P. Zenger in October and becomes Scott’s love interest and best friend by the novel’s end. She is a round static character and is characterized indirectly. Scott’s first impression of her is that she has dressed for Halloween; she has green hair chopped short, pins in her face, and is wearing a black tee shirt with a bloody headless teddy bear printed on the front. He is shocked when she intentionally sits down with the popular girls for lunch despite their obvious dislike. Her Goth style and forthright manner characterize her as a non-conformist, and she exemplifies a positive spin on the “Misfit” stereotype. While Scott is initially concerned that other students will link him with Lee because he talks to her occasionally about books, by the novel’s end, he decides that fitting in isn’t worth it if he can’t be with Lee.

Lee’s recognition that Scott is a kindred spirit drives her motivation to befriend him. They both love books, and though Scott initially thinks Lee’s obsession with death is creepy, he too likes creepy literature. After the first day of school, for instance, he says that the homework from English is “creepy enough to give me hope that English would be fun” (24). However, he misjudges her due to stereotyping; because of her goth persona, he overlooks her most important traits—she has a “zest for life” (198) and is happy with who she is. Lee demonstrates true resilience: Unlike Mouth, who buries his despair behind a facade of cheerful obliviousness, Lee displays her hurt when Scott treats her as a joke. However, she also confronts Scott after working through her anger, demonstrating that resilience is the ability to recover from difficulties, not ignore them. Lee also arouses a sense of chivalry in Scott, which drives him to fight Kyle when he realizes that his old friend wrote the slur on Lee’s locker. That fight sets the stage for Kyle’s betrayal and Vernon’s physical attack on Scott, leading to Scott’s realization that his pursuit of Julia is fruitless. Significantly, when Scott first begins to talk to Lee, it is because she is carrying The Silent Gondoliers by William Goldman. While Scott loves Goldman’s bestseller, The Princess Bride, Lee’s choice indicates that she identifies more with the non-conformist gondolier who challenges stereotypes than with Princess Buttercup, the epitome of a damsel in distress.

Kyle is Scott’s oldest friend and the last member of his circle of friends from elementary school to drift away. He is a static, flat character who is a foil for Wesley Cobble, characterized by what other characters think of him and his own actions rather than direct characterization. Kyle’s most significant trait is his apparent toughness; most kids won’t confront him because of his threatening looks; his broken nose makes him look tough, but he broke it when he fell off his rocking horse as a child. While Kyle doesn’t change in the novel, Scott’s perception of him does change; while Scott has always known that Kyle was the kid who “did the most damage to anthills and spiderwebs” (97), he initially doesn’t recognize that the way Kyle teases him is a form of bullying. Whenever Scott talks about his extracurricular activities, Kyle throws balls at him and makes derogatory remarks. Kyle’s belligerent friendship style reflects his need to belong to a group; when Mitch finds a girlfriend and Patrick moves away, Kyle abandons Scott. He joins the wrestling team, moves to their table in the cafeteria, and no longer hangs out with Scott during the weekends. His final betrayal of Scott after their fight signifies that he is a duplicitous character. After Scott surprisingly wins their fight, Kyle helps Vernon set up an attack on Scott in revenge.

Kyle functions as a foil to Wesley Cobble. Lubar portrays both boys as tough characters, but only Wesley’s reputation is true. Kyle is a bully who hides his insecurities behind a disdain for academics and the safety of a group. Wesley is a loner who sincerely doesn’t care what others think of him. Kyle stands up for Scott once by knocking books out of a kid’s arms from behind, but Wesley warns off Vernon by simply standing by Scott in the hallway. Kyle abandons Scott once he finds another group that will take him in, while Wesley chooses Scott out of the entire student body to befriend. By the novel’s end, Kyle is no more than Vernon’s flunky, while Wesley and Scott are equals with a solid foundation for their friendship

Julia Baskins is viewed through the lens of Scott’s infatuation throughout most of the novel. She is a static, flat character and a foil to Lee. As the object of Scott’s obsession, she is instrumental in driving the plot forward passively; Scott joins the school newspaper staff, the student council, and the school play to get closer to her. These extracurricular activities are the framework for his growth as an individual. In the conclusion of the novel, Scott finally dances with Julia and stands up to her abusive boyfriend, Vernon Dross, but he returns to Lee, whom he’d rather dance with than any other girl in the room.

Scott doesn’t pierce Julia’s stereotype as the beautiful, smart, and popular nice girl until just before the novel’s conclusion when he discovers that her insecurities mar her perfect life. In her quest to fit in at school, she dates Vernon, who is verbally abusive toward her. She fights with Kelly when her best friend gets a part in the school play instead of her. Tellingly, she doesn’t deign to notice Scott until she is without a date for the final dance. Unlike Lee, Julia does not have the insight to define herself outside of the social norms of high school; she is a conformist, and her refusal to take social risks inhibits her ability to change.

Vernon Dross is the antagonist in the novel; he is a flat, static character who stands in the way of Scott’s infatuation with Julia turning into a real relationship. Defined by his temper and egomania, he is initially angry with Scott because Scott doesn’t mention his name enough in the football articles. However, Scott discovers by the novel’s end that Vernon is a coward; he only instigates confrontations when he has his friends with him or when he has the element of surprise, such as when he attacks Scott from behind in the multi-purpose room. Vernon is a stereotypical jock; Lubar endows his character with cruelty and insecurities that surface in acts of bullying against those weaker than him.

Vernon’s antagonism drives Scott to finally stand up for himself at the dance, partly because Vernon is also threatening Julia, but also because Scott recognizes that Vernon’s intimidation stems from cowardice, a trait he observed in his quarterbacking style on the football field.