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Fighting ruben wolfe is a beautiful book about failure, family and friendship

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‘Blood is thicker than water.’

The main theme is Family, because, it’s about the two brothers and their family, they go into fighting to help their family and in the end, they would rather be happy with their family than be winners.

The main reason they even got into fighting was because, somebody insulted their sister and the last thing they want to do is disappoint their family.

“Sorry Mrs. Wolfe. For everything. We’ll make you proud another day. We have to. We must.”

“We’re letting her down, that’s what injures us.”

They just want to make their mother proud and not let her down.

“Not because we’re ashamed of him. We’re not. We just know that he’s fought this for so long, and we know he see it as the end of his dignity.”

They don’t want their father to feel as if he has lost his dignity. They care for every member of their family.

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Perception/Reputation:

The book uses pride and reputation as a driving force for many of the key characters. We see people cave into this (an example being the scene where the father takes himself to get the doll) and we see people dismiss it completely (the final fight scene in which Ruben hugs cam).

The Dad

father refusing to go on the doll for pride

He believes people will look down on him if he does

He wishes to maintain whatever “respect” he feels from the community

He doesn’t want to be associated with the stereotype of someone on the doll

Fears it would make him seem weaker (especially with his wife working)

Too proud, making his own problems by not accepting additional payment from his children

“Dad, feeding burnt sausage into his mouth but tasting unemployment. His face healed from the busted pipe that smashed open his jaw and ripped open his face. Yes, the injury has healed nicely, at least on the outside of his skin.”- pg 17

Ruben

is strange, he wants to be the best but doesn’t like to brag

Likes his inherently tough appearance

Cam

doesn’t want to seem weak

Doesn’t want people to know about fights for fear of being viewed as a sidekick

Avoids potentially embarrassing situations

“If they saw me fight, it would only make them laugh. I would be Rubes sidekick. They’d say, ‘go watch them Wolfe’s fight, ay. The younger one, what’s his name, he’s a joke, but Ruben can fight like there’s no tomorrow’.”-pg 92

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Brotherhood is the most prominent theme in Markus Zusak’s novel Fighting Ruben Wolfe. Brotherhood is shown through the two main characters; Cameron and Ruben. Cameron and Ruben think in a similar, Cam usually thinks something and Rube says it. “A girl walks past. Jesus, I think. ‘Jesus,’ Rube says...” this is an example of Cam thinking something and Rube saying it, another example is: “Cops. What the hell are they doin’ here? I wonder. ‘What the hell are they doin’ here?’ Rube says.”  They defend each other, they constantly have each other’s back, supporting each other. An example of this is; “Brothers. We’re strange. In here he won’t give me an inch, but out in the world, he’ll defend me to the death.” Towards the end of the book, Rube tells Cam how proud he is of his brother and how proud their parents would be if they saw Cam fight. Cam helps Rube find his purpose, he fights Rube not to win but to give him a fight. “The fight. My brother. For my brother — for his own fight.” “‘You’re in a fight,’ I tell him. It’s all I say, and Rube looks into me.” “‘He’s scared of losin’,’ Bumper tells me. ‘Good.’” This is all evidence of Cam trying to give Rube a fight. The message conveyed about brotherhood in the book seems to be that they may fight against each other but when it’s Cam vs the world or Rube vs the world then it turns into Cam and Rube vs world.

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Identity/Purpose
Identity:
Throughout this novel, Ruben and Cameron Wolfe struggle with finding out their purpose in life. They are trying to prove to themselves of who they are and what they are and what they should be. At the end of chapter 3, Ruben states that all he cares about is is family, and the rest of the world can rot. He shows here that he’s very focussed on himself and the people that he cares about. As long as he has them, he’ll be happy. He then states that Cameron cares about everything, and he’s absolutely right. Everything matters to Cameron, and it’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s hard to find someone’s purpose when they don’t care about specific things in general, but since Ruben cares about his family only, his purpose is for his loved ones.

By the end of chapter 5, when Ruben and Cameron agree to fight for Perry, they start training. And the training makes them feel like they have purpose in the world, like they have purpose “to be out on that street.”, as Ruben says. The fighting makes them feel purposeful and meaningful. The author doesn’t try to hide that this is the most important theme in the book. The message that the author tries to convey with this theme is that without purpose, life is meaningless. In order to feel fulfilled, you must know your purpose and work with that.

This theme is also far more important than any other because it is shown throughout the entire book. At the beginning, the brothers don’t know who they are or what they will be, and they have no set purpose. But as they grow as people, they start realising that they’re fighters and they’re not giving up ever. Their purpose is to keep fighting with every battle they get into, whether it be literal, physical, mental or metaphorical. Their purposes develop to greater things over time, from just fighting people to fighting the world and themselves.

Purpose:

Identity seems to be a big philosophical idea that many people think about and in the novel they often think about their individual purpose in life. By the end of the novel they seem to start gaining insight towards their identity also throughout the novel they are pondering their identity shown in a scene at the end of the novel where they are talking to each other Ruben says ‘I’ll hunt my life down and grab it.’ This shows that Ruben is trying to find out who he is.

They also frequently take notice of the people around them like their mother who seems to have an identity and seem to know who they are.

At the end when they said ‘even Cameron he’s fighting Cameron Wolfe and me, I’m fighting Ruben Wolfe’ I felt like that was the focus point of the resolution

The author had a lot of prior build up towards that point

During the moment he also used a lot of emotive language

Another factor may be that when I was listening to the audio book the reader emphasised that moment

Identity is a theme the most prevalent in the story and it appears to also be the most obvious theme. These two combined are my point as an author wouldn’t try to conceal the main theme.

In terms of seriousness I think identity is more serious than other themes like brotherhood etc.

Finding who you are seems to be an issue to the target audience ‘teenagers’ and this might attract people who have/had this issue.

Finding identity is shown on the back ‘I say, ‘Don’t lose your heart Rube.’ My brother answers me. He says, ‘I’m not tryin’ to lose it, Cam. I’m tryin’ to find it.’. This, I think, is referring to trying to find who he is in life. This is also on the back of the novel which is an important part and it being there shows it is important.

The points of both identity and purpose are the most valid points you will see out there

‘Without purpose, life is meanigless’ this is expressed in the book as both Ruben and Cameron feel like they have no purpose and thus feel like life is meaningless, this is changed however when they start boxing‘In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity’ this is shown by the fact that they feel they have no identity and feel that they have no identity and show no real reason

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The most significant theme in Fighting Ruben Wolfe is Pride/respect

The pride is evident in the way the father refused the financial aid from Steve when he loses his job and even then refuses to “go on the dole” because even though he was made only half a man by the absence of his job, he was trying to be re-employed by advertising his services door-to-door.

Before Ruben was trying to motivate himself, he mentioned that he was doing the fighting to prove himself to himself. It also shows that he is trying to find his place in the world and the fights allow him to make the Wolfe name mean something.

In the fight between Ruben and Cameron, Cameron decides to give the fight his best go because he thinks that no-one wins against his brother because no-one attempts to beat his brother. So he thinks that by trying hard in his fight, he can show people that the Wolfe family always fights for pride and freedom.

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Identity/Purpose:
Purpose:
Throughout this novel, Ruben and Cameron Wolfe struggle with finding out their purpose in life. They are trying to prove to themselves of who they are and what they are and what they should be. At the end of chapter 3, Ruben states that all he cares about is is family, and the rest of the world can rot. He shows here that he’s very focussed on himself and the people that he cares about. As long as he has them, he’ll be happy. He then states that Cameron cares about everything, and he’s absolutely right. Everything matters to Cameron, and it’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s hard to find someone’s purpose when they don’t care about specific things in general, but since Ruben cares about his family only, his purpose is for his loved ones.

By the end of chapter 5, when Ruben and Cameron agree to fight for Perry, they start training. And the training makes them feel like they have purpose in the world, like they have purpose “to be out on that street.”, as Ruben says. The fighting makes them feel purposeful and meaningful. The author doesn’t try to hide that this is the most important theme in the book. The message that the author tries to convey with this theme is that without purpose, life is meaningless. In order to feel fulfilled, you must know your purpose and work with that.

This theme is also far more important than any other because it is shown throughout the entire book. At the beginning, the brothers don’t know who they are or what they will be, and they have no set purpose. But as they grow as people, they start realising that they’re fighters and they’re not giving up ever. Their purpose is to keep fighting with every battle they get into, whether it be literal, physical, mental or metaphorical. Their purposes develop to greater things over time, from just fighting people to fighting the world and themselves.

Identity:

Identity seems to be a big philosophical idea that many people think about and in the novel they often think about their individual purpose in life. By the end of the novel they seem to start gaining insight towards their identity also throughout the novel they are pondering their identity shown in a scene at the end of the novel where they are talking to each other Ruben says ‘I’ll hunt my life down and grab it.’ This shows that Ruben is trying to find out who he is.

They also frequently take notice of the people around them like their mother who seems to have an identity and seem to know who they are.

At the end when they said ‘even Cameron he’s fighting Cameron Wolfe and me, I’m fighting Ruben Wolfe’ I felt like that was the focus point of the resolution

The author had a lot of prior build up towards that point

During the moment he also used a lot of emotive language

Another factor may be that when I was listening to the audio book the reader emphasised that moment

Identity is a theme the most prevalent in the story and it appears to also be the most obvious theme. These two combined are my point as an author wouldn’t try to conceal the main theme.

In terms of seriousness I think identity is more serious than other themes like brotherhood etc.

Finding who you are seems to be an issue to the target audience ‘teenagers’ and this might attract people who have/had this issue.

Finding identity is shown on the back ‘I say, ‘Don’t lose your heart Rube.’ My brother answers me. He says, ‘I’m not tryin’ to lose it, Cam. I’m tryin’ to find it.’. This, I think, is referring to trying to find who he is in life. This is also on the back of the novel which is an important part and it being there shows it is important.

The points of both identity and purpose are the most valid points you will see out there

‘Without purpose, life is meanigless’ this is expressed in the book as both Ruben and Cameron feel like they have no purpose and thus feel like life is meaningless, this is changed however when they start boxing‘In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity’ this is shown by the fact that they feel they have no identity and feel that they have no identity and show no real reason

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The most significant theme in the book was brotherhood. It was a running theme throughout the chapters. Even though they have different personalities and weaknesses, they stuck together. They share their thoughts and feelings each night, and share a room despite being able to have separate rooms. Rube sticks up for Cameron when the girl he likes calls him a loser. Cameron sees his brother changing but supports him as he is finding himself

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The most important theme in fighting Ruben Wolfe is the importance of family

This theme is evident throughout the novel and is portrayed in the beginning when Sarah gets attacks verbally. Ruben is quick to take action and tries to protect his sister.

“your sister should take up whoring.” (p27) - sister gets attacked

“His fingers get blooding … the guy doesn’t have a chance.”

Basically plays out the whole story. Because of the theme of family, Ruben and Cameron fight to make money for the family so that they don’t need to put more pressure on their parents. They don’t tell their mum because then she will have to care more about them.

Also their brotherly bond is  unique because everytime Cameron thinks of something and Ruben actually says it.

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The most significant theme in FWR is Importance of Family. This theme is portrayed by the brothers’ drive, their brotherly bond

The financial struggle of Ruben and Cameron’s father and mother is what drives them to enter the fight club. By winning fights, the brothers can support their family  by supplying them with extra money. Even though fight club is dangerous and illegal, they put their own safety into danger for the good of their household. The two boys don’t tell their mother because they know it will break her heart so they think of her health over their own. This theme is present by the quote, “”, and also when Ruben attacks another boy who was making fun of Sarah

The bond between the two brothers were uniquely strong. They both have the same thoughts as Cameron will have a thought on a phrase, and Ruben will eventually say whatever what comes into Cameron’s mind and say it aloud. In page 1,”’Jesus,’ I think. ‘Jesus,’ Rube says.” In every chapter, at the end of the chapter, the two brothers would talk before they sleep or it’s a scene where it only involves between Cameron and Ruben. The text was also a presented in a different font to display a chat between the pair of them. This adds to the theme of family as they cherish their bond so much.

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It’s the end goal of the Wolfe brothers and it is what they achieve at the end of the book

This is proven with many examples throughout the text.

“I say, ‘Don’t lose your heart, Rube.’ My brother answers me. He says, ‘I’m not tryin’ to lose it, Cam. l’m tryin’ to find it.’

“I ask ‘What’ll y’ do when the boxings over? He answers without thinking. ‘I’m gonna hunt down my life and grab it”

The theme is constantly brought into the plot with the characters questioning themselves, so the repeated use of the theme shows its importance

“He’s fighting Ruben Wolfe. Or is he actually fighting Ruben Wolfe?”

‘Purpose,’ Rube continues. ‘We’ve finally got a reason to be here. We’ve got reason to be out on that street. We’e not just out here doin’ nothing’.’”

All the other themes link into it and are used to describe who Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are.

They are linked to their family and the theme of family as well as the themes survival and struggle which they go through to create themselves.

-Alex and notTorgil

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Brotherhood
1. A main part of the book is their nighttime conversations. It shows their bond and it uses a different font to show that their conversations are significant. They are a summary to the end of the chapters.
"Jeez, I'm a bit sore, ay. This running' in the morning isn't much chop for the ol' legs"
If their brotherhood wasn't important, then they wouldn't have these special conversations.
2. The whole book is a buildup to their fight at the end and even the book is named after it. "Fighting Ruben Wolfe". Their fight makes their bond stronger as they support each other.
" 'Finish him off!' he calls out. Rube looks at me. He looks at him. He tells him. 'No!'.
3. Their characters change as the book progresses and their brotherhood is a big thing that impacts this. Ruben is focused on and then Cameron helps him.
" 'Your'e about worth me,' but you're not worth him. You're not worth my brother' "

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Brotherhood is a positive theme because
-it’s a reoccurring theme throughout the book
-brings the boys closer
-drives character development

"That’s what we are - maybe the only thing I can be sure of. Brothers. All the good things that involves. All the bad things.”
" ‘Hope you’re better than your brother,’ someone calls. It hurts me. Wounds me.”