Venus and Mars is the name of a Wings album and also serves as a symbol of the differences between white and Native American culture. The idea that the reservation is its own planet, separate from the planet where George and the other students at school live, is a metaphor to which Lewis returns often throughout the novel. At one point, Venus and Mars is used to symbolize George and Lewis themselves. In Chapter 12, this is apparent when George, Lewis, and Stacey gaze up into the early morning sky and view the two planets.

The only other band mentioned in the novel is Queen, with a brief mention of Eric Clapton and David Bowie. Otherwise, the music presented in the novel is clearly dominated by the Beatles and Wings. Each chapter and part in the novel deals solely with albums and songs from one of the bands. Furthermore, in every instance of unification through music, it is invariably through the Beatles or Wings.

Lewis presents many examples of how to deal with bullying. At first, Lewis does what many kids do: He ignores the bully and the bullied in an attempt not to draw attention to himself.