Slugfest

Arabella’s character transformation in the final section of the book revolves around realizing that the truth does not always make things fair, illustrating The Importance of Context in Determining Fairness. After years of believing that she could fix everything by exposing the truth and applying the rules inflexibly, Arabella is forced to realize that this expectation does not align with how the world works. Rather, every situation is unique, and fairness takes different forms, such as with Nate. Chapter 23 drives this message home as Arabella is reminded of the complexities in her relationship with her father. As she struggles to deal with the pressure of the encounter, she can’t help but compare it to the pressure she knows that Nate feels from his father to be the best and play on a winning team. Nate confessing the truth in front of the entire tournament brings his and Arabella’s relationship arc full circle. Nate’s choice to come clean reveals that he knows it’s the right and fair thing to do, even if it isn’t easy. When he makes this announcement, Arabella realizes what Yash has known for a while—that this was not her secret to share. Nate’s situation also exposes the broader unfairness of the public-school system, where life-changing opportunities are parceled out unequally according to a student’s home address. 

This realization also helps Arabella understand the mistake she made by threatening to expose Mrs. Finnerty. Even if Arabella had been right about Mrs. Finnerty’s certification, that wouldn’t mean that she was completely in the right to trample on someone else’s privacy. However, since Arabella was wrong, she learns that there is more to being an investigative journalist than finding information that supports her point. When Arabella saw what she thought was evidence proving her right, she stopped researching, sure that she knew everything there was to know. By doing so, Arabella forfeited her capacity to think critically in favor of feeling justified. Fortunately, she learned the truth before she went public, threatened Mrs. Finnerty’s reputation, and damaged her own. These events illustrate the importance of not rushing to take action.

The football tournament offers something different to each of the main characters of Slugfest. For Yash, the tournament is the chance to prove himself, both against Nate and to himself. In addition, the tournament represents the moment when Yash realizes that he has true friends among the slugs, knowledge that makes him redouble his effort to help each of them shine as much as possible during the games. For Cleo, the tournament helps her realize that the potential for injury isn’t stronger than her love for sports, bringing her character arc full circle. It also lets her see Yash in his element, both as a player and as a teammate. Throughout the book, Cleo has been annoyed at how everything just seems to fall into Yash’s lap. After seeing how hard he works in the tournament to do his best and make the slugs feel special, though, Cleo realizes that he has earned most of what he gets, even if the mechanism of earning it isn’t completely obvious. Cleo misunderstood Yash because of his privilege, demonstrating the effects of Privilege as a Source of Misunderstanding. Between Cleo’s and Yash’s skills, the two emerge as the stars of the team, both finding that they challenge and support the other as athletes and, eventually, friends. Their leadership and talent help the rest of the slugs step up their game. Between this and the general feeling of teamwork among the group, the slugs are able to win game after game by playing to their unique strengths.

For Kaden, Jesse, and the other slugs, the football tournament is a chance to feel like they are part of something that they’ve never been part of before. The kids began as reluctant classmates and transformed into a well-oiled machine, if one where the parts come together in a non-traditional way. Specifically for Kaden, the games in the tournament are a life-changing experience. For someone who could barely move without tripping over himself a few weeks before, Kaden has come the furthest under Yash’s training. This has shown Kaden that there’s more to him than just being smart. While he isn’t anywhere near Yash’s ability level, Kaden’s confidence in being part of a team lets him do things he couldn’t before, such as catch the pass in Chapter 28. More broadly, Kaden’s lack of skill speaks to how the slugs are able to stay in the game despite being at a severe disadvantage. Rather than just playing by the rules of football, the slugs tailor their play to emphasize the other team’s weaknesses. This is most prominently seen in their second game when they use the other team’s strict organization to confuse them by running plays that no football player would ever even consider. Their success illustrates The Need to Keep an Open Mind: The opposing team far outmatches the slugs in skill, but their rigid expectations lead to their defeat. 

The protesters who arrive in Chapter 26 are both comic relief and foreshadowing. Jesse is amazed and thrilled that his joke got attention, even if from only a few people. His performance in the second half of the game reflects the motivating effect of success. In the first half of the game, the slugs believed that they had no chance against the best team in the tournament, and their performance mirrored this belief, as seen by the score of 29 to zero. However, once Jesse turns his attitude around, the whole team perks up, and Jesse’s confidence leads both teams into a very different second half. Hammond’s offer in Chapter 26 is the first time he has been genuine to the slugs. In Chapter 22, when Korman offered Hammond’s perspective, it was clear that Hammond had little respect for anyone who wasn’t an athlete and had even lost some respect for Yash by aligning himself with the slugs. Hammond’s later offer shows that, while he loves playing the game and winning, his love is based more on the challenge than gaining easy wins. He doesn’t want his team to continue destroying the slugs because it’s not a fair game, and the lack of fairness brings Hammond no joy. As a foil to Arabella, Hammond realizes the importance of fairness, rather than the limitations that fairness brings, which shows how complex determining fairness really is.

Chapters 28 and 29 show what happens when people come together, rather than work against each other. When Kaden is distraught at missing the catch, Nate is the first to comfort him, showing that the most important thing is not winning the game. Kaden did something extraordinary, even if it didn’t work out as his team hoped. The fact that both teams come together to celebrate Kaden’s near win also resolves earlier tension between the athletes and the unathletic Kaden. In Chapter 5, Yash’s friends made fun of Kaden for his interests. Now, they are forced to respect Kaden for daring to try something he had no aptitude for, showing how respect brings people together. Chapter 29 is when Cleo finally admits to liking Yash because he isn’t the arrogant athlete she once believed him to be. After his mix-up with the dialogue at the open house, Yash committed himself to the play—showing up for rehearsals and giving the monologue his all. After seeing how the slugs came together to win the tournament against all odds, Yash realizes that he can put all his effort toward things other than sports. Yash’s character arc is complete when he takes Cleo’s hand for the final bow. Instead of hogging the spotlight for his one monologue, Yash puts the credit where it belongs—on the lead actress. By doing so, Yash shows Cleo that he respects her, which lets her finally respect him, resolving the tension that has arisen from privilege as a source of misunderstanding.