Middleschool Madness - Pattern of Love

Middle school, as we all know, is full of surprises, rivalries, hatred and love. It is one of the tensest moments for a teenager. The three middle school students in the story “PATTERN OF LOVE” by Irwin Shaw go through these challenging moments. Writers always avoid stereotypes in their stories and do not expose the character to the readers because they think that it will be boring. But Irwin Shaw doesn’t avoid stereotype in his short stories, so that it will be more interesting. He talks about three middle school students, Katherine, Charley and Harold, who break out of their mould, and come out to be what readers don’t expect.

This story begins with a pretty popular girl in a middle school, named Katherine, who breaks out of her stereotype and shows her real image to the readers. Generally popular girls in school are yielding, modest and generous. But, Katherine is really stubborn, arrogant, and selfish. There are many incidents that explain her characters. In one incident she asks Harold, “Do you think I am pretty? I’ am not looking for compliments. I want to know for a private reason.” By this the readers come to know that she is self-centered and she is looking for the expression of admiration from him about her beauty. As the story moves on Katherine breaks out of her stereotype, by yelling at Charley, a well-known guy in school who also breaks out of his typecast and shows that he is dumber than a rock.

Charley, even though the president of 8th grade, the captain of a strong baseball team and a popular guy, he comes out of his mould and becomes arrogant, violent and imperceptive. When Charley, the victor in fifty and more desperate battles breaks out of stereotype to be the opposite of a normal guy in school, the readers are taken aback. For instance, he shouted arrogantly to Katherine “I will break his neck for him. I’ll kill that great violinist Harold with my bare hands” and shows that he is an imperceptive and violent boy. He has never shed tear since he was spanked at the age of four and was now uncontrollably weeping when he understood that he had won Harold only physically but he could never win him mentally. From this the readers come to know that he is fearful too. Unlike Charley, Harold could win the girl he likes, as he is a calm, tolerant and brave boy.

The story ends with the last and the most amazing character Harold who is known to the other students only as a geek or nerd. But in the story, Harold shows that he is honest and sincere. Harold also proves