Gwendy's Button Box

Gwendy Peterson is the protagonist and the guardian of the button box for the majority of the novella. Her parents named their only child Gwendy because her “father wanted a Gwendolyn—that was his granny’s name—and [her] mom wanted a Wendy, like in Peter Pan. So they compromised” (4). Her life completely changes when she takes on guardianship of the button box. Before the button box comes into her life, she feels overweight and insecure. Frankie Stone bullies her by calling her “Goodyear”—a nickname that haunts her into adulthood. After receiving the button box from Mr. Farris in the novella’s inciting incident, Gwendy transforms into an extremely beautiful, athletically talented, and popular version of herself.

Mr. Farris chooses Gwendy to take care of the button box because she’s “the best choice of those in this place at this time” and she seemed responsible (15). As guardian of the button box, Gwendy goes to great lengths to protect it. She’s rarely greedy in taking advantage of its benefits or consequences and only pushes the buttons three times—once as an experiment, and twice to avenge her loved ones’ deaths (Olive and Harry). Throughout the