Because of the Rabbit

Lord shows Emma’s fallibility again: She still has a way to go before embracing her authentic self and becoming, in Owen’s words, “the friend [she] want[s] to have” (159). Despite having fun with Jack at her house, Emma isn’t kind to him at school and does not want to be associated with him publicly—unless it is in their class group, where Emma is happy to accept Jack’s support. Without Jack’s suggestion that they vote and his subsequent vote, Iris would have squashed Emma’s presentation ideas. Outside the classroom, Emma dismisses Jack, treating him the way that Iris treats her. Iris is disdainful toward Emma because she feels her friendship with Leah is being threatened, and that Emma is disrupting her established friend group. Later, after deliberately misleading Emma about Lapi, Iris will explain: “You wanted to be Leah’s friend and I’ve been her best friend forever. I didn’t want you to squeeze me out” (180).

Lord does not shy away from portraying Emma’s flaws. Emma not only dismisses Jack, but chooses to be involved in negative gossip about him. Jack has been unwaveringly friendly toward Emma, but Emma sees Jack’s friendship as a barrier, blocking her entry into the popular girl’s group—he is not “acceptable,” and his unacceptability could rub off on her. Emma knows she is being cruel, but justifies her conduct by her need to fit in with the group on her wish list. Lord shows Emma making the wrong choice: When Emma must decide between Jack, the person who accepts and supports her, and an idealized group of girls who made no effort to welcome her, she chooses the group: “I like Jack […] but I really wanted to be friends with some girls, too. And this was my first real chance. I rolled my eyes, too” (134).

This section explores the consequences of lying to fit in and The Complexities of Making Friends. Emma, who supposedly “loves pickles,” feels she must eat the pickles Leah passes over. When the group starts gossiping about Jack, Emma worries about how they will judge her if she doesn’t join in. They mock Lapi’s name, so Emma forces a laugh. Desperate to fit in, Emma focuses on how the girls are interested in the story of Lapi’s rescue, and kids herself that “[t]his was going really well!” (143). Iris drops the bombshell about the missing rabbit posters because she’s jealous when Leah and Emma exchange phone numbers. Rather than the idyllic lunch Emma was expecting, she finds that the “perfect” group of girls is flawed.

Emma’s experience highlights how unrealistic her expectations were. Emma has not been exposed to many social hierarchies, especially in public schools. Emma made her friends from homeschooling in a controlled environment; she meets them “one or two at a time” (134), never facing conflict between two disparate groups or people.

Emma takes her built-up disappointment out on Jack. Emma’s harsh words are a spontaneous reaction, but it’s likely that she would not have said them to anyone else. Emma knows Jack doesn’t judge or gossip, and that lashing out at him won’t affect her image.

Jack is Emma’s foil, or a character that highlights another character’s traits through contrasting ones. He prevents her from falling into the artificial whirlpool that school popularity contests can become. He is also Emma’s voice of reason, his logical thinking nudging her to call the Abbots.

Emma’s compassionate nature finally wins, and her reaction to seeing how she hurt Jack is deep and heartfelt. Her apology to Jack is genuine; as they sit in silence, she realizes that Jack, simply by being himself, has not only supported her but has made her feel comfortable enough to share things that she hasn’t told anyone else, like Pépère’s stories. She sees kinship between them, musing: “So what if Jack wasn’t exactly like everyone else? I wasn’t, either” (152). Finally, she decides to take Owen’s advice and be herself, showing growth.

Owen’s advice is the moral center and lesson of the novel—“you also have to be the friend you want to have” (159). In her unkindness toward Jack, Emma has not acted like the friend that she so desperately craves. Owen’s words make Emma think about her own behavior. Self-doubt creeps in and her confidence falters. She looks at Lapi, needing this little rabbit to be magic, to be her best friend, to “be there when I got home from school […] to love me best” (160), and begins to doubt Pépère’s stories with their positive outcomes. Her upbeat view of the world starts to dim: “Maybe there was no rabbit magic. Maybe Lapi was just someone else’s stray pet and I was just a weird girl that no one wanted for her best friend” (160).

This is a typical motif in novels for both children and older readers, where it is darkest before the dawn. Like other novels, Because of the Rabbit fluctuates from conflict to optimism to greater conflict as a way of sustaining tension. The protagonist, Emma, will have to undergo personal transformation before finding resolution.

Because of the Rabbit’s chapter titles mirror the themes and conflicts presented in each chapter. For example, Chapter 13’s title, “Bonding rabbits isn’t always a smooth process. Sometimes a few steps forward is followed by a step backwards,” reflects how Emma will backslide and be cruel again to Jack before ultimately bonding with him. Chapter 15’s title, “To offer grooming, hold your hand on the ground in front of the rabbit. If the rabbit accepts, he will come to you,” foreshadows the peace offering Emma makes to Jack in the form of Pépère’s story. Chapter 16’s title, “A rabbit will grieve the loss of a mate,” mirrors Emma’s grieving of Owen.