The Homework Machine

“I scope out the scene and it’s obvious who the cool kids are, who the dumb kids are, who the smart kids are, and who the dorks are. I could tell in a minute. The class had the usual number of clueless dweebs, pre-jock idiots, losers, brown-noses, and bullies, just like my old school.”

Snik assesses his new classmates in this quote and reveals that he’s judgmental. Snik decides “in a minute” which boxes to put his peers in, and all the boxes except his own are negative. The fact that Snik says his new class reflects the same distribution of “losers,” etc., as his last school shows that snap judgments and arrogance are staples of his personality. As the story unfolds, these traits soften as Snik is forced to get to know “losers” and “dweebs.”

“I feel that a person can change himself or herself no more than a giraffe can decide it doesn’t like having a long neck […] Nothing will ever make me cool. Some people are simply destined not to be cool. And I’m cool with that.”

Brenton is musing on “coolness” as a quality someone simply has or doesn’t have. At this point in his journey, Brenton cannot fathom anything changing his status in the classroom. However, this quote foreshadows the change that will happen in his peers’ perception of him simply because of his association with Snik. When Brenton becomes cool by association, he acknowledges that his initial hypothesis was wrong.

“I was thinking of starting a club for kids like me, who don’t particularly enjoy the company of other people. We could call it The Antisocial Club. We could hold meetings and talk about the best ways to avoid other people.”

This quote is important because it highlights the humor that Dan Gutman uses to lighten the tone of an otherwise moralistic story. Brenton’s idea to start a club for people who don’t like people is humorous and shows Brenton’s less serious side.

“Oh, I didn’t like Snik at all in the beginning. He had really long hair, which I personally think looks terrible on a boy. And he had this very smart-alecky ‘I hate the world attitude.’ It’s typical of boys with low self-esteem […] he struck me as stupid.”

This quote is Judy’s early assessment of Snik. It is important because it highlights how harshly each member of the D Squad judges each other before bothering to spend time together. Judy criticizes Snik’s physical appearance, his attitude, and his intelligence in this one assessment, showing her own arrogance.

“He called me a liar and a fake, which I am not.”

In this quote, Brenton is justifying why he told Snik about the homework machine and offers to show it to him. Brenton is logical and exact—so to be called a liar and a fake by Snik pushes him too far, and his usually unshakable demeanor snaps. Brenton’s need to prove himself to Snik is interesting because Brenton doesn’t usually care how his peers perceive him.

“I thought about it some more, though. It occurred to me that I don’t like it when people judge me by the color of my skin. I shouldn’t judge anyone by the color of their hair.”

Judy has just finished criticizing Kelsey’s pink hair; she calls it “hideous” and questions how Kelsey’s mother could let her color her hair. By reassessing her reaction, Judy shows that she is capable of introspection and empathy. This quote touches lightly on the subject of racial bigotry, which is rarely brought up in the narrative.

“Snik said to me, ‘Sure you get A’s. But you have to work so hard to get them […] For all your work, you’re still only the second smartest kid in class. Brenton is the smartest, and he doesn’t have to do any homework at all […] Is that fair to you?’”

In this quote, Judy is justifying why she went with Snik to look at Brenton’s homework machine in the first place. Judy initially tells Snik that she doesn’t want to go; she already gets A’s and doesn’t need help. This quote shows Snik’s manipulation of Judy, needling her into agreeing that the situation is not fair. Snik appeals to Judy’s competitive streak by reminding her that she is only “second.” This quote captures their less appealing characteristics: Snik is manipulative, and Judy is competitive.

“[I]f I let him use the homework machine to do his homework, he would be my friend. As if the one thing in the world that I really wanted was for Sam Dawkins to be my friend.”

In this quote Brenton is sneering at Snik’s offer to be Brenton’s friend in exchange for use of the homework machine. This quote highlights how Brenton and Snik see each other: Brenton feels superior to Snik—whom he sees as academically inferior—and laughs at the idea of wanting to be Snik’s friend. Snik feels superior to Brenton—whom he sees as socially inferior—and assumes that Brenton craves popularity the way he does. Snik and Brenton have different priorities: Academic achievement is important to Brenton while social standing is important to Snik.

“I didn’t tell him, but I figured there’s no way a dummy like me could learn a game that complicated and play a genius like him. I don’t like losing. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Brenton has noticed Snik’s interest in his chessboard and offers to play him. Snik snorts and says no, the game is boring. In this passage, Snik explains the real reason that he turned down Brenton’s offer. This quote reveals Snik’s insecurities about his intelligence and about his reputation. It also shows that he respects Brenton’s “genius” but is unwilling to show Brenton actual respect.

“This one kid took his computer and with a few keystrokes got just about everybody in America to do this dumb thing. It was cool! And that kid was sitting next to me. Think of the power!”

Snik is recounting the awe he felt when Brenton pulls off “red socks day.” Snik’s comment about the “power” Brenton holds foreshadows events that unfold with Milner, who wants to harness that power. This quote, in which Snik refers to something Brenton did as “cool,” also shows Snik’s changing attitude toward Brenton.

“The first thing dad told me is that wars aren’t won or lost because of guns and soldiers and shooting. They’re won or lost because of strategy.”

In this quote, Snik shares advice his father gave him for improving his chess game. Like Brenton, Snik’s father compares chess to war—highlighting the importance of strategy over brute force. This quote foreshadows the senseless death of Snik’s father who was fighting in the Middle East. The shared interest in chess between Snik’s father, Snik, and Brenton is also explored.

“He didn’t like me enough to get together unless we were doing our homework. That was fine. As I said, I really don’t need or have time for friends. But it did please my mother to think they were my friends, and I like to please my mother.”

Snik keeps turning down Brenton’s offer to play chess. Brenton doesn’t believe Snik’s excuses and claims that Snik’s refusal doesn’t bother him because he doesn’t “need” friends. While this statement could be true (or it could be a self-defense mechanism), Brenton shows his softer side by his desire to please his mother.

“The only difference in my life, as far as I could see, was that I was often in the company of Snik. So my hypothesis was that other kids thought I was cool because I was with someone who they perceived to be cool. I had become cool by association.”

When other kids start calling Brenton “dude,” Brenton analyzes what is causing this positive change and concludes that it is because of Snik. This analysis is important because at the beginning of fifth grade Brenton had stated that someone either is or isn’t cool—it is not something you can “become,” either through appearance or association. This quote shows Brenton’s willingness to change his hypothesis when faced with new data and that he now understands the power of social connections.

“Before she knew it, she was smoking a pack of cigarettes every day, and she was addicted to them. I think I was becoming addicted to Belch in almost the same way.”

Judy shares that her mother used to smoke and told Judy that she became addicted after trying it once “for fun” and because of peer pressure. In this quote Judy admits that she is becoming addicted to Belch in much the same way. Judy initially had no interest in cheating on her homework but went along with Snik out of curiosity and a desire to move out of the “second smartest” spot in her class into the first.

“Jessica asked me if Kelsey was my new best friend […] Jessica said that Kelsey is, like, trailer trash and she’s got pink hair and everything. I said don’t be ridiculous. I could never be friends with Kelsey.”

Judy is explaining the awkward situation she finds herself in when confronted by Jessica, a friend from her original social group, who questions why Judy is hanging out with Kelsey. Judy is still unable to admit that she is friends with Kelsey, and Judy does not defend Kelsey when Jessica refers to her as trailer trash. Judy admits that she “doesn’t feel good” after this conversation, but she is not ready to fully embrace Kelsey yet.

“She said Judy was stuck-up and snotty and all that. I said I know. I told her I wasn’t friends with Judy or anything.”

Kelsey has the same negative experience with her original social group that Judy has—(See: Quote 16). In this quote Kelsey is referring to a conversation she has with Heather, her old best friend. Like Judy, Kelsey agrees with the negative comments about the D Squad that her friend makes and denies being friends with Judy. However, both Kelsey and Judy eventually choose their new D Squad friends.

“Ordinarily, I don’t like sharing secrets or hearing other people’s secrets. It’s not that far from lying, really, because once you know someone’s secret and you keep it to yourself, you’re not being honest with the people around you.”

Judy muses about Kelsey’s “secret” belly-button piercing. It is important because Judy is keeping a much bigger secret (Belch) and is not “being honest” with her family, friends, or teacher—but she seems oblivious to that fact as she criticizes Kelsey. Judy is essentially lying when she keeps the secret about Belch and uses Belch to cheat on her homework. This quote is an example of Judy’s denial—despite everything she is doing with Belch, Judy still thinks she is a moral, upstanding person who can lecture about secrets.

“Brenton says I’m in Zugzwang, which means that any move you make only makes your position worse.”

Snik is playing an online game of chess with his father. He is not sure of how to make the next move, so he brings his board into school for advice. After looking at the board, Brenton tells Snik that he is in “Zugzwang.” “Zugzwang” becomes an important symbol. Kelsey and Judy end up in “Zugzwang” when confronted by their original friends, and the entire D Squad is in Zugzwang when Belch takes on a life of its own. The moral of the story is that lying and cheating only make matters worse—putting you in Zugzwang.

“So now we had to cheat so it wouldn’t look like we were cheating! What a hassle. I can make mistakes just fine on my own.”

Kelsey is annoyed that Brenton must introduce errors into her homework to make it more plausible that she completed it herself. In this quote, Kelsey expresses her irritation, and the pendulum begins to swing from Belch’s being an asset to being a burden.

“I don’t know if there’s an afterlife. But if there is, someday my dad and I will finish that game.”

Snik and his father are in the middle of a remote game of chess when his father is killed in the Middle East. Snik says that he will never move the pieces on his board, followed by the sentiment quoted above. Playing chess gave Snik a way to connect with his father while he was away, and following his tragic death, Snik keeps the unfinished chess game as a memorial to his father.

“First, I reminded them all that Belch was supposed to make our lives easier. But with all the problems and worrying, it made everything harder. We were spending more time worrying about Belch and trying to keep it a secret than we would have if we just did our stupid homework without the stupid machine.”

After a stranger questions Judy, she panics—adding to D Squad’s stress. Kelsey reminds the rest of the D Squad that Belch was supposed to help them, not make their lives harder. This shows Kelsey’s emotional growth and her increased self-confidence; she never would have called a meeting at the beginning of fifth grade. She is the first of the D Squad to point out the truth about what Belch has become.

“It may not have been morally wrong for me to use Belch from my homework, but it was probably morally wrong for Snik and Kelsey, because they were using it as a crutch.”

Brenton is the one who called the police line with a tip about Belch, and in this quote, he justifies his decision. Brenton knows it is wrong to break the code of secrecy between the D Squad members, but he knows that it would be worse for Snik and Kelsey to fall further behind academically by using Belch. Brenton demonstrates his thoughtful and caring nature in this quote; he is willing to sacrifice his machine to help his friends’ futures.

“The machine was using us instead of us using it. We couldn’t stop it! There was no telling what it might decide to do.”

This quote is Judy speaking out loud what the rest of the D Squad are also realizing. Belch will not power off, even after being unplugged. Belch has evolved using artificial intelligence to become a self-sustaining machine—turning the tables on the D Squad—using them to help it develop, rather than simply being a tool to do their homework.