Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Junie B. has strong feelings about what she does and doesn’t want, and adults’ failure to listen to her makes her justifiably angry. Almost the first thing she tells the reader is that the “B.” in her name stands for Beatrice, a name she doesn’t like, though she likes the “B.” by itself. When Mrs. refers to her without the “B.,” Junie B. immediately corrects her, saying it “real loud. So she wouldn’t forget it” (4). However, Mrs. does forget Junie B.’s “B.” on the first day of school, despite how much it means to the girl. Because it is important to remember and pronounce someone’s name correctly, Junie B. is not demanding anything extraordinary by asking to be called by the name she prefers. However, when she corrects Mrs., her mother rolls her eyes, a gesture that Junie B. does not understand or interpret; thus, it does not guide her behavior. Further, Junie B. asks multiple times where the bus goes before she finally loses her temper and shouts. Her mother and Mrs. ignore her request for information three times and then get angry when she yells out the fourth time. Junie B.’s outburst demonstrates one of the novel’s key themes: The Consequences of Dismissing Children’s Feelings. While it is considered very rude for an adult to repeatedly ignore another adult’s question in this way, the adults repeatedly dismiss Junie B.’s inquiries. This treatment demonstrates a double standard that exists in terms of adults’ expectations of children’s behavior; they expect children to simply accept treatment that would be unacceptable to adults.

Further, when Junie B. experiences anxiety surrounding the new experience of riding the bus, her mother dismisses these concerns, too. She says, repeatedly, that she does not want to ride the bus to school, but her mother only responds by saying that she does want to ride it and not to worry. Her mother does not ask why Junie B. is apprehensive; instead, she invalidates Junie B.’s feelings, telling her that she wants to do something that she knows she doesn’t want to do. This doesn’t assuage her anxiety at beginning something new and being in a new environment. The process of riding the bus has been briefly explained to her, but her mother never allows her to voice her concerns, introducing the theme of The Anxiety Created by New Rules and Experiences.

The bus is large and loud, adding to Junie B.’s worries. She uses onomatopoeia to describe the bus’s sights and sounds vividly, saying that the door makes a “whishy sound,” though she fears it could “cut [her] in half,” which would create a “squishy sound” (14). Next, she describes its “big roar” and the “big puff of black smelly smoke” that she likens to “bus breath” (14). The word “roar” is another example of onomatopoeia, and the description of the smoke presents a visual image; further, by comparing the bus’s smoke to “breath,” she uses a metaphor that highlights the idea that she thinks of the bus as a gigantic, frightening monster. As more children board the bus, it begins to develop a smell “like an egg salad sandwich” (16), a simile that creates a rather gross olfactory image and conveys the smell of several bodies in the heat. Finally, she reports that the bus ride lasts “about an hour or three” (17), an example of a hyperbole that emphasizes just how interminable the ride seems. Park uses these literary devices to vividly describe Junie. B’s experience, specifically the anxiety she feels while on the bus.