Way of the Warrior Kid
40 pages • 1-hour read
Jocko Willink, Illustr. Jon BozakWay of the Warrior Kid
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Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Worst Year”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying.
The narrator, Marc, has finally reached the last day of fifth grade, and it has been a terrible year. He’s bored at school, and he hasn’t been doing well in classes, which makes him think he’s not smart. The school lunches are unappetizing, and gym class has been terrible: He’s humiliated because he can’t do a single pull-up, making him “a disgrace to ten-year-olds” (3). Marc embarrassed himself again during a field trip to a lake, when he wouldn’t enter the water because he couldn’t swim. The biggest reason for Marc’s unhappiness is a bully on the playground named Kenny Williamson, the self-described “King of the Jungle Gym” (4), who bosses around the other kids despite the school trying to get rid of bullying.
Marc is worried that sixth grade won’t be much better, but he that his uncle, Jake, will be visiting over the summer. Jake is a Navy SEAL, and Marc idolizes him: “[H]e is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF ME. I am weak—he is strong. I am dumb—he is smart. I can’t swim—he can swim with a backpack on. I’m scared of bullies—bullies are scared of him!” (6). He’s excited to see his uncle but also afraid that his uncle will think he’s unintelligent and weak and won’t want to spend time with him.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Worst Day”
Marc just finished “Sports Day,” and he thinks it was the worst day of his life. At first it was fine, as there were lots of activities, mostly for fun, and no one cared if Marc didn’t do well. When it was time for pull-ups, he tried to hide, but Kenny Williamson noticed Marc and called him out: “This was pure evil” (8). Someone pushed Marc from behind, and the teacher encouraged him to try. With a big crowd staring at him, and Kenny taunting him, he jumped up, and “with all [his] might, [he] pulled as hard as [he has] ever pulled anything in [his] entire life. [He] went up about two inches, then stopped” (13). Led by Kenny, the whole group taunted Marc, and then someone made things even worse by reminding the group that Marc can’t swim. March ran behind the library and “cried like a little baby” (14).
Chapter 3 Summary: “The Beginning of Summer”
At home the next morning, Marc doesn’t want to tell his mother what happened; he knows she wants to help but isn’t in the mood for her consoling words. Both of his parents are kind, but they’re also very busy, and Marc wonders if they don’t fully understand him. His mother offers to let him come with her to pick up Jake at the airport, and soon they spot him: “He seemed to know where he was going. He had a very serious look on his face. He looked STRONG […] while all the other people seemed to be thinking about themselves, Uncle Jake was slowly looking around, scanning the whole area” (18). Jake sees Marc and his mother, greets them warmly, and gently teases Marc for not having a firmer handshake. They retrieve his luggage, and Jake asks Marc to carry a camouflage duffel bag. Marc eagerly grabs it, “happy to be able to carry a cool-looking army bag” (20), and heads to the car, looking forward to a summer with his uncle.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Roommates”
Marc receives more good news: Jake will be staying with him in his room for the summer. Over dinner, Jake tells stories about “things any kid would love to do, like parachuting, scuba diving, rappelling out of helicopters, and blowing things up with explosives—all the time!” (21). Jake asks about playing basketball with some of Marc’s friends or going swimming, and Marc is embarrassed to admit that he’s not very good at sports and can’t swim at all. All of a sudden, Marc confesses that he can’t do pull-ups, that he’s bad at math, and that he gets bullied. Jake tells him, “[E]very one of those problems is something you can change. Every one of them” (24). Jake tells him how he didn’t become a Navy SEAL because he had great abilities; he learned those abilities as a result of being a SEAL. Jake promises him that the next day, he will tell him how to become a “Warrior Kid.”
Chapter 5 Summary: “Warrior Kid”
Marc wakes up to find Jake at the breakfast table, already having accomplished a number of tasks for the day. After a quick breakfast, Jake takes Marc to a nearby park to tell him about what it means to be a warrior: “Warriors are people that stand up for themselves. They face challenges. Warriors work hard to achieve goals. They have the discipline to overcome their weaknesses. Warriors are people who constantly try to test and improve themselves. […] [W]ar is the ultimate test, but not all warriors go to war” (29-30). Anyone, even someone Marc’s age, can be a warrior by working to solve problems and improve themselves, mentally and physically. Marc likes the idea of becoming a warrior kid, but Jake warns him that it will be hard work and that he has to have the will to do what is necessary and make a firm commitment. They agree, and Marc feels like “something [has] already changed” (32).
Chapters 1-5 Analysis
Marc begins the book like many protagonists in children’s, middle grade, or young adult literature: isolated, insecure, and feeling like a misfit without a clearly defined place in the world. Such characters are intended to be relatable to young readers, but their characterization also serves a narrative and thematic purpose by ensuring that the protagonists are not static but have room to grow. Indeed, the two are intertwined, particularly in a series like this one, which is intended to provide readers with a template for similar transformation: As Marc undergoes the character development that will transform him into someone heroic, readers can imagine themselves undergoing a similar process that can free them from their doubts and anxieties.
Much of what the reader learns of Marc comes from his direct characterization of himself, which works in tandem with his characterization of Jake. At the outset, Marc has a low opinion of himself, whereas Jake is perfect in his mind. Frequent use of antithesis underscores the contrast between the two characters, at least from Marc’s perspective: “He is a tough guy! I’m a dork!” (6). The character of Jake mostly functions as an ideal type, an embodiment of all the good qualities that derive from the warrior code, and he is certainly confident: He knows what he is capable of, likes to tell stories of his derring-do as a Navy SEAL, and, once he hears about Marc’s troubles at school, instantly takes charge as the person best able to solve them. Yet at the same time, Jake is humble in acknowledging that did not become the person he is automatically: “When I joined the Navy, I could only do seven pull-ups. Now I can do forty-seven. I wasn’t a great swimmer. Now I can swim like a fish. I also didn’t do that well in school, but when I got into SEAL training, I learned how to learn” (25). Jake’s acknowledgment of his past limitations helps Marc to see him as slightly less superhuman and thus to see that he may be able to bridge what he initially considers a yawning gap between himself and Jake.
More broadly, Jake’s words introduce the theme of Confidence and Humility as Mutually Reinforcing. The novel distinguishes between realistic recognition of one’s shortcomings, which can increase one’s determination to grow and improve, and mere self-hatred. Marc’s low opinion of himself may seem humble, but it is not, because it denies the possibility of change. If he can’t do a pull-up or struggles with his multiplication tables, those are fixable issues. However, by calling himself weak and stupid, Marc is making a summary judgment of his own character that closes off the possibility of improvement. The novel suggests that, far from being humble, this is actually a kind of self-absorption, as it hurts not only Marc but anyone who might benefit from his potential skills, such as the other students being bullied by Kenny Williamson. It also suggests that confidence is not (or not only) something one gains after cultivating certain traits or abilities but rather an ongoing commitment to self-improvement (because this necessarily implies belief that one can improve). Marc’s very decision to begin down the path of the warrior thus signals a change in attitude which promises a positive turnaround for Marc going forward.
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