57 pages • 1 hour read
Andrew SmithA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Rugby is so central to Ryan Dean’s identity that his position—a “wing”, of which there are two on a team, usually positioned on the edge of a play—is the basis for his school nickname “Winger” amongst his peers. Tellingly, Annie, a girl, doesn’t call Ryan Dean Winger but rather “West” or “Ryan Dean.” suggesting that his experience of sports is heavily male-centric. Rugby facilitates a sense of self-worth as Ryan Dean’s slight stature and young age become advantages rather than drawbacks on the rugby field, or “pitch.” For a “winger”, whose job is to get the ball and outrun an opponent to score a “try,” being small and quick is an advantage. Ryan Dean tells the reader, “I might have been smaller and younger than the other boys, but I was the fastest runner in the whole school for anything up to a hundred meters, so by the end of the season last year […] I was playing wing for the varsity” (11). The sport, therefore, provides Ryan Dean with an opportunity to use the traits he doesn’t like about himself in a way that helps him feel like he can contribute to a common goal.
By Andrew Smith
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