Marcelo in the Real World Themes

If ever there was a book about the struggle to communicate, it's Marcelo in the Real World. Our hero Marcelo's got something resembling Asperger's Syndrome, which means that other people seem even...

To Marcelo, suffering and death are just facts of life, and he doesn't see why they're such a big deal. He's not a jerk; his brain just works way differently from most people's. But when he learns...

Okay, so there's no actual sex in Marcelo in the Real World. But there's all kinds of thinking about it. Wendell wants it constantly, Jasmine doesn't get why everybody wants it with her, and Marcel...

In Marcelo in the Real World, Marcelo's interest in religion starts out as an obsessive Asperger's-kid interest. He was raised Catholic, but he's studying Judaism with his mom's rabbi buddy, and he...

Another term for "lies and deceit" in Marcelo and the Real World could be "Sandoval and Holmes." Their lies are whoppers and cause a ton of suffering. And even though Marcelo knows this is very wro...

Marcelo has no concept of class distinction until he sees three things: that the houses in Robert Steely's neighborhood are closer together than in his own, that Amos's yard is full of faded lawn o...

Marcelo in the Real World shows us how money brings both power and corruption. Sandoval and Holmes attain their power (and their riches) by behaving like giant bullies, and Jasmine tells Marcelo th...

That Marcelo in the Real World is about justice and judgment is a no-brainer: after all, it's set in a law firm. But where we really see this theme is in Marcelo's actions toward Ixtel. He judges A...