Part 2: Via

“August is the Sun. Me and Mom and Dad are planets orbiting the sun. The rest of our family and friends are asteroids and comets floating around the planets orbiting the Sun.” (pg 82)

Via understands that in her family, Auggie is always kind of put first. “ My worst day, worst fall, worst headache, worst bruise, worst cramp, worst mean thing anyone could say has always been nothing compared to what August has gone through. This isn’t me being noble, by the way: it’s just the way I know it is.”

I see Via as kind of the warrior, or protector of her brother. Throughout this part of the story we get to see Via’s side of the story, through her eyes. We get an outside view of Auggie’s life. We can feel how she feels when people stand there with their jaws open staring at him, or turning to walk away. We feel anger towards those kids who stand there and stare.  We see how people treat her a little differently knowing August is her brother. We see the galaxy in work from Via’s stand point.

It’s been this way her whole life, Auggies’ needs being put first in every aspect. The only person who ever really put Via first, “who looked out for her”, was her Grans. When she passed away Via felt lonely in this galaxy that only revolved around August.

“I’ve gotten so used to not complaining.”

Via is entering high school. The time in life when everything is changing, friendships, style, people. Everyone is figuring out who they are and who they want to be in high school. Via's best friend has found a different crowd to hang out with and she’s having a rough time transitioning into the high school scene and finding out where she fits in. But with the galaxy revolving around Auggie, she knows she can’t complain about this because school has to be harder for him. We see Via struggle with this universe throughout this book, but she stays true to herself. She is kind, compassionate, humble, and knows more than most adults and teenagers her age about complaining.  Complaining gets you know where in life.