Theme & Summary

    The theme of The List, is, "Even though something may be believed to be a good or bad thing, it could possibly change ones viewpoint on themselves or life." It develops over text partly because the reader gets to hear what the character is thinking and how they are reacting to the list. We also get background information on it. For example one character named Bridget thought, "And in a flash, the guilt, the sadness, and the depression she'd felt the whole way to school vanish and is replaced with warmth." This is when Bridget first found out she was put as the prettiest junior. During her summer she was starving herself so she could fit into a smaller bathing suit. Soon she realized it was a terrible idea. But once she sees that she was put on the list she thought she should keep it up because it seemed to improve her look to others. She felt amazing, but her sister makes her feel bad about it in the middle of the text. Her sister confronts her and tells her she needs to start eating. Bridget says," I'm telling you. After the homecoming dance, I'll eat. I'll be back to normal again. I swear. You know how you keep talking about the list, wanting to be on it someday? Well, just think about things from my perspective. It's a lot of pressure." This is where she starts to realize maybe it's not a good thing to be known as prettiest. But towards the end she knows it wasn't good. She says, "I wish I wasn't on the list. The list has been nothing but trouble for me." This shows that she starts to wish she hadn't made the list because then she wouldn't have thought that starving herself was a good thing. The list actually ruined her viewpoint on herself.

This picture shows how Bridget felt. She felt fat compared to other people in the world when in reality she was skinny. Once you start to feel a certain way it takes a lot to change old habits.