Chapter 5

What an awkward situation: Matt is not only unable to understand, why the strangers are questioning him, at the same time, his image is falling apart more and more.
The chapter starts with a small extract of the rumours, which went round and soon were known in the whole school.
As I read this chapter, I thought of the Bible: There is proof, that Jesus really existed and obviously had a great impact on the people of his time. But of course, the technological difference is immense, so the society was dependant on mouth to mouth propaganda. Everybody wanted to be more important than the others, so you added an interesting fact to the story, making it perhaps more interesting, but less realistic.
Now, if you compare the Bible with the rumours about Matt, I can see a lot of similarities: Both Jesus and Matt were some kind of "victims" of rumours, certainly in a different way, but their image has been changed.
I wonder how Matt's image will look like, when he is allowed to leave Mr. Parrish's office. How will he react when he hears the "bomb threat rumours" etc.? This could be an interesting point for discussion in an English lesson.

What I still don't understand is why he refuses to let them open his locker... Why is he so uncooperative? In my opinion, this just makes him even more suspicious.