34 pages • 1-hour read
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
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Character Analysis
Junie B. Jones
Junie B. is the text’s protagonist and is, in many ways, a typical five-year-old. She longs for physical and emotional autonomy and to have those around her honor her feelings and experiences. Just like most adults and children when they reach school age, Junie B. feels the Human Desire for Independence and Control. When other people, children or adults, fail to respect her feelings and wishes, she becomes upset and somewhat defiant. However, this defiance does not arise from a wish to rebel; instead, it results from Junie B.’s belief that her feelings and wishes are valid and that the people around her should honor them. Like any adult, she longs to be heard by those around her. Like many children, she has a keen sense of justice: For example, when she claims a particular classroom chair before the school year starts, she expects a child who was not present then to respect her claim. Her emotions and responses to others demonstrate Children’s Highly Developed Sense of Fairness. Unlike an adult, who would likely realize that they cannot claim a chair when no one is around and then expect everyone to honor their choice, it seems simple to Junie B., as she tells Lucille to “[a]sk [Junie B.’s] mother if [Lucille] doesn’t believe [her]” (23). This appeal to an adult’s authority shows how confident Junie B. feels in her correctness. She also experiences the unrestrained happiness that is common among children, citing four different objects—books, clay, electric pencil sharpeners, and crutches—as her “favorite thing” in the world. These moments highlight The Unbridled Joy of Children.
Junie B. is a dynamic character in that she grows up a little throughout the text. Despite her initial fears about riding the bus, feelings that emphasize The Anxiety Created by New Rules and Experiences, she eventually learns that it isn’t so scary. It might be loud and sort of unpleasant, especially before she knows what to expect from it. However, when it becomes a little more familiar—and Mother reassures her that no one will pour anything on her head and pairs her with Grace for tomorrow—Junie B. reassesses her feelings. She “will like [being buddies with Grace], [she] think[s],” and even says, “Tomorrow, I think I might like yellow a little bit, too” (69). This change indicates her increased comfort level, which contributes to her character growth. She learns that new experiences aren’t necessarily scary and that she can also talk to her mother about her anxieties and expect help with them.
Mrs.
Mrs. is Junie B.’s kindergarten teacher, and, in many ways, she represents the society with which Junie B. conflicts. She is a static character, who is relatively unchanged throughout the text, and flat, as she is motivated merely by her desire for order and quiet in her classroom rather than engaging in the difficult work of helping children manage their challenging emotions. Immediately upon meeting the little girl, Mrs. refers to her as “Junie,” omitting her middle initial and prompting Junie B. to correct her. Despite the little girl’s pointed reminder to use her “B.,” Mrs. forgets to do so the very next time they see each other. This makes her appear dismissive of something that may seem small to her but that is very significant to Junie B. When Junie B. makes a mistake while writing her name, Mrs. doesn’t attempt to reassure her or help her figure out what went wrong; instead, “Mrs. ma[kes] the shhh sound and g[ives] [her] a new one” (25). Again, her actions minimize Junie B.’s concerns. She cares more about getting Junie B. to be quiet than helping her learn to problem solve. Likewise, when Junie B. shouts at Jim, who is rude to her and then steps on her shoe, Mrs. doesn’t ask what happened or address Jim’s misbehavior. Instead, she only suggests, “Let’s try to use our quiet voice while we’re in school” (22). Junie B. obediently and quietly says that she hates Jim, and Mrs. promptly moves on without addressing the conflict, clapping “her hands together very loud” (22), which contradicts the priority she places on being quiet.
As a result of these interactions, when Junie B. feels nervous about riding the bus home, she doesn’t raise her concerns with Mrs. This is just one of The Consequences of Dismissing Children’s Feelings. It never occurs to Junie B. that she could enlist the help of her teacher to deal with her fears because Mrs. never acknowledges Junie B.’s feelings. Instead, Junie B. takes things into her own hands due to her Human Desire for Independence and Control. Only after Junie B. hides, her whereabouts unknown for hours, does Mrs. consider the source of The Anxiety Created by New Rules and Experiences for Junie B. and suggest that Mother contact Grace’s mother. Mother says, “Your teacher told me there’s a girl in your class who will be riding the bus for the first time tomorrow. Maybe you could sit together” (68). However, it takes a real fright—one that Junie B.’s attempt to exercise her authority when she could not rely on her adults created—to prompt this kind of attention from Mrs.
Mother
Like Mrs., Junie’s mother is a representative of a society that tends to dismiss children’s feelings and experiences. First, she ignores Junie B.’s many requests for information about the bus until the girl finally loses her temper; then, Mother says, “Watch yourself, missy” (7), as though the outburst was causeless or unreasonable. Then, when Junie B. confesses that she does not want to ride the bus, Mother says, “Oh, sure you do” (9), implying that Junie B. is wrong about her feelings and prompting Junie B. to argue. However, Mother only says, “Just don’t worry” (9), without acknowledging that Junie B. is worried and that it is perfectly normal for her to experience The Anxiety Created by New Rules and Experiences.
Not only does Mother dismiss Junie B.’s predictable, human anxieties simply because she is a child, but she also makes promises that she cannot keep. When the other little girl from the bus stop gets on the bus without incident, Mother tells Junie B., “Look how big that little girl is acting […] Why don’t you sit right next to her? It’ll be fun. I promise” (12). First, Junie B.’s mother compares her to another child, suggesting that Junie B. is behaving in a cowardly or ridiculous way, rather than affirming the child’s feelings and helping her deal with them. Then, Mother promises that the bus trip will be “fun” without any knowledge of whether her statement is true. When Junie B. is denied a seat, yelled at by Jim, and knocked to the floor after a loud and smelly ride, she learns that her mother is wrong and will likely get little comfort from such promises in the future. This is just one of many of The Consequences of Dismissing Children’s Feelings.
Mother is more dynamic than Mrs., however, as she ultimately does learn why Junie B. was so apprehensive about riding the bus home and addresses that concern helpfully, rather than denying its validity. When Junie B. gets tearful on the car ride and tells her mother that there are “meanies” on the bus, “Mother stop[s] being so growly” (68). She addresses Junie B.’s concerns, rather than avoiding or denying them, suggesting that Junie B. could make a new friend who is riding the bus for the first time. Mother even calls Grace’s mother so that the girls can chat about the plan, helping to assuage Junie B.’s fears (and probably Grace’s, too). Of the conversation, Junie B. says, “I said hi and she said hi. And she said she would sit with me” (69). At this point, Junie B. begins to believe that tomorrow’s ride will not be so bad—not because her mother said it wouldn’t but because her feelings have been validated and met with a constructive, not dismissive, response.
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