“I don’t have a quarrel with Christianity. As near as I know, Mom doesn’t have religious beliefs so I wasn’t brought up with any. I know some Bible stories from going to Sunday School with my friends when I was younger but mostly they were just good stories. I see where getting religion here could work to my advantage with Jody but I can’t jump ship on my friend Ellerby.”

Eric’s reflections on religion are short and to the point—he knows the stories but views them as just stories. He would like to pretend for maybe just a moment that he believes them to be something more. But even the chance to impress Jody doesn’t justify abandoning his friend Ellerby, whose views on Christianity are diametrically opposed to Mark Brittian’s.

“His gray shirt is buttoned to the top and his dark, baggy pants complete the picture of Death, come calling at your door in the middle of a rainy night.”

Eric’s first encounter with Mr. Byrnes makes it clear that he is a true villain. Unlike other adults that Eric dislikes, such as Mr. Mautz, Mr. Byrnes is frightening, so much so that Eric is stunned into silence in his presence, with no flippant response of the sort he might offer the vice principal. This moment contains some foreshadowing as well, as Mr. Byrnes does later seek Eric out and attempt to kill him.

“For the first time, I ate like more of a pig than I am just to show her that I wouldn’t get svelte and handsome and popular so she’d have to hate me.”

When Eric begins to lose weight due to his participation on the swim team, he feels worried. he wonders how his weight loss will impact his relationship with Sarah. He attempts to stay fat for her, hoping that if he remains heavy then they will still be able to share their outsider status. He worries that she will see his weight loss as a betrayal.