Page 3: The Escalation and Consequences
The third page of Locker 160 provides a comprehensive summary of the short story, detailing the escalation of bullying and its tragic outcome.
Highlight: The story is revealed to be written by Lee Busselman, focusing on the themes of harassment and bullying in a school setting.
The narrative arc is outlined as follows:
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Initial bullying: Karen and Julie target Miriam, an introverted and seemingly lonely classmate, by placing malicious notes in her locker (number 160).
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Escalation: The bullies intensify their actions by putting marbles in Miriam's locker, causing chaos in the hallway, and crafting a voodoo doll to further intimidate her.
Example: The marbles spilling across the hallway illustrates how the bullies' actions affect not just Miriam, but disrupt the entire school environment.
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Petition incident: The bullying reaches its peak when the girls create a petition declaring Miriam as "weird" and "hated," forging their classmates' signatures.
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Tragic consequence: Miriam attempts suicide following this intense harassment.
Quote: "They do not feel any guilt, do not even realise they had a role in this but joke about her." This chilling statement reveals the bullies' lack of empathy and understanding of the consequences of their actions.
The summary emphasizes the bullies' enjoyment of Miriam's reactions, highlighting their failure to recognize the pain they are causing. This lack of awareness persists even after learning about Miriam's suicide attempt, demonstrating the profound disconnect between their actions and their understanding of its impact.
Vocabulary: Protagonist - The main character in a story, often the hero or central figure.
This page provides crucial insights into the Locker 160 characterization of Karen, Julie, and Miriam, as well as the Locker 160 point of view, which appears to be from Karen's perspective. The summary also hints at the Locker 160 year of publication, though the exact date is not provided.
