How Does Jimmy Change During Fat Boy Swim? Free Essay Example

Fat boy swim is about a boy who’s life has changed dramatically, from traumas and triumphs. Jimmy used to get bullied, he would cower in the corner and not be able to face the harsh critics. But when he started swimming he discovered a passion with connections to school, family life, appearance and most of all his dreams………. When Jimmy has a crush, his confidence is boosted and he feels like superman! ‘Up,up and awayyy! ‘ The writer has written the feeling of a superman in an indirect way so we can interpret how much we think Jimmy has changed, depending on our personality.

This is a good way with connecting to the auidience.

To me this tells me that weightlessness of being ‘superman’ gives him so much confidence to stand up to bullies, and is loseing weight; so it makes him light and ‘free’. Jimmys weight has changed during fat boy swim, he used to fat and obese- “he only shuffled half a dozen steps” he could barely move as his rolls of fat just got in the way and his wheezyness slowed him down.

This makes me feel quite sympathetic for him as he can help his weight but cant be bothered to change. This may be because he feels like there is nothing worth living for, as he hasn’t got a friend- or started swimming.

At the end of this book he begins to lose weight and gain confidence. This is shown in chapter 27 as it says ‘He swung through the changing room doors like a gladiator’ The word swung suggests he was ‘bouncing’ through the door which potrays he was very happy.

‘like a gladiator’ also shows he was happy and brave- or confident because gladiators are known to be brave and confident. As gladiators fight a vicious battle and it’s quite an acheivement defeating your opponent, it tells us that Jimmy has achived something really great and he is proud. Jimmys personality has changed a lot during fat boy swim.

He used to be very quiet and timid. ‘ he didn’t allow himself to dwell on reasons why things happened’. This shows Jimmy’s laziness and if it was a 1 time thing he would probobally act but as he didn’t it suggests something lke this has happened before. This makes Jimmy feel fed up because if I was him I would wonder why they were doing this to me. At the end of the book he gains confidence which is shown in ‘Jimmy could feel Victor’s Adam’s apple quiver under the preasure of his fingers. ‘ This cleary shows loudness as I don’t think someone quiet would be so defensive.

The word quiver says that not just the readers but other characters in the book realise Jimmy’s personality change. This shows Jimmy is being quite mean, but I think it is justified as It tells Victor to back off, and to stop bullying Jimmy because they cant get away with it anymore. This makes me feel quite proud of Jimmy as before he used to put up with it and now he realises it isn’t right. This might make the reader think of their own actions as if they’re experiencing bullying they might take inspiration from Jimmy even if it isn’t the way Jimmy deals with bullies.

At home Jimmy is very confused and overwhelmed, not helped by his Aunt , Aunt pol said “Binging because he is so flipping miserable. The word ‘flipping’ suggests that she is very angry at the fact that Mum is letting Jimmy do that, Aunt pol recognises he is miserable and readers may think that there is more going on between Mum and Aunt Pol….. At the end of this book it becomes clear what is going on and Jimmy becomes louder and more bold. ‘Mums not my Mum’ This is a very short sentence to show how shocking it is and maybe shows how bluntly Jimmy was told.

Using the word mum twice makes the reader reflect on how Jimmy was feeling and how lost Jimmy must of felt. It makes me feel a bit happy for him because even though at the moment he feels lost things in the future may become clearer. For example may be able to connect with his family more. I think Jimmy feels quite low, and it’s annoying that his family or school isn’t helping even though it is quite obvious how he’s feeling. For example he stays in his room alot of the time and eats junk food. In chapter 9 where it goes in to great detail about Jimmys binge eating.

This chapter is important to the book because it tells us what Jimmy is feeling and what his family is feeling, which helps us to infer and deduce from the next chapters. At the end of the book things become more clear as Jimmy finds out who his real Mum and Dad is. ‘She was holding out a small green notebook. ‘This is very intriging and begins to unravell the true story of this book. I think the notebook is her diary so it tells some secrets, hence the name secrets. This sentece is very short which suggests there is a big secret.

It is also at the end of the chapter so it gives the reader an oppotunity to reflect and think about what is going to happen next… If I was Jimmy I would feel worried because the 3 people he thought he knew most well were keeping a big secret from him. I would also feel confused because my aunty had just handed me a small green book without saying anything. In Jimmys swimming pool dream at the beginning it is unknown what this dream could mean. When I first read this chapter instantly thought the shadows at the end of the pool was himself once he knew who he actually was.

Once I had had read most of the book I realised the shadowsat the end of the pool wasn’t the person he was going to be but his family and who they were going to be. The swimming part of the dream and not being able to reach the end symbolises to me the journey Jimmy has to go through to find out more about his family. When he is swimming in the dream he comes accross many hurdles this symbolises the hurdles in his life eg. the bullying. This book has a very clever structure as the chapters are split up into groups, like a meal, nibbles, starters, main courses, desserts and bitter sweets.

This is clever because Jimmy loves to cook and it connecting more to the main character. The section nibbles tells us that the 2 chapters there are going to give us tiny clues to help us in the rest of the book. As there is only 2 chapters in this section we can infer nothing major is going to happen. The next section is called starters which says to us that its going to start saying a bit more about jimmy. There is 9 chapters in this section which tells us that there is more to Jimmys life then expected…. Main courses tells us that the main event which this book is based around is going to happen.

As a main course in a meal the most important it tells we need to pay close attention to what is happening. The next group is deserts. As desserts are sweet and sweet is seen as good, it tells us that something good is going to happen and this may be the happiest experienceshe has. I think bitter sweets is the most important section because it tells us something bad may happen but something good will come out of it in the end. I enjoyed reading that section the best because you can compare how Jimmy has changed during the book.

The last chapter ‘not the last chapter’ tell us that this may be the last chapter for us but there is loads more adventures and experiences Jimmy will have in the future. I have enjoyed this book alot because it tells you how people change very quicly and makes you aware of how differnt people are. It also explores all the key aspects of Jimmys life, apperarance, personality, family and school. I think I have learnt good inference skills from reading this as to understand the book you need to ‘read between the lines’ .

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