| Then Again, Maybe I Won't | |
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1st edition |
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| Author(s) | Judy Blume |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young-adult fiction |
| Publisher | Bradbury Press |
| Publication date | 1971 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 176 pp |
| ISBN | 0-87888-035-6 |
| OCLC Number | 211889 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.B6265 Th |
Then Again, Maybe I Won't is a 1971 young adult novel written by Judy Blume. Intended for pre-teens and teenagers, the novel deals with puberty from a male perspective as well as the other trials of growing up. Judy Blume claimed that she was inspired to write the story following the success of her preceding novel Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Given her earlier novel was about a girl entering puberty making the transition to womanhood, she decided to write one about a boy going through puberty and making a transition to manhood.
Contents |
Tony Miglione and his working-class family live in Jersey City, New Jersey. When his older brother Ralph and his wife Angie announce they are having a baby but lack money to care for the child, Tony's parents offer to help. Both of Tony's parents work extra shifts to try and raise enough money.
Tony's father, an electrician who tries his hand at inventing in his spare time, is inspired to invent wireless electrical cartridges, which he then patents and sells to a large company called J.W. Fullerbach Electronics. Mr. Miglione is then made a plant manager for a Fullerbach factory which will manufacture his invention. This new job brings to the Miglione family a large increase in wealth and a move from Jersey City to Rosemont, New York, a fictitious affluent Long Island town where Tony has to deal with sudden changes coinciding with his growing into adolescence—his mother is becoming a social-climbing phony, his brother quits teaching and ends up going into the family business, and his grandmother (unable to speak since the removal of her larynx due to cancer and a woman who enjoyed housework) is no longer permitted to cook or clean because the family has hired a housekeeper. Add to this the emotional upheaval that comes with puberty while his new friend Joel Hoober acts obnoxiously, makes prank phone calls and has a tendency to shoplift. Tony is also a secret Peeping Tom, watching Joel's gorgeous sister, Lisa, undress from his bedroom window. He later asks for a set of binoculars too, for Christmas, under the guise of becoming a bird watcher, while they are obviously for him to view Lisa more clearly.
Besides dealing with the move and his feelings about Lisa Hoober, Tony experiences anxiety attacks, which mainly strike when Joel commits a misdeed and Tony feels he cannot betray his friend and tell anyone. Joel's shoplifting is a major catalyst for these attacks, and one is so great it sends Tony into a state of shock and results in his immediate hospitalization. Tony's parents also arrange for him to meet with a psychologist (although his mother initially is against it, claiming he has no problems) who eventually gains Tony's trust. The therapy seems to be a great success for Tony.
Later it is revealed that Tony has lost a measure of respect for his older brother, Ralph, when he learns that Ralph will be giving up teaching to go into his father's business. In Jersey City, Ralph had been known among his friends as "The Wizard of Seventh Grade Social Studies," and was a popular junior high school teacher. Tony does not believe Ralph is scientifically oriented, like their deceased brother Vinnie was, and is giving up his true calling to follow the same social-climbing path as his parents. Ralph rationalizes his job change in that he wishes to provide for his daughter and future children. Tony thinks to himself it does not take that much money to raise a child, and it runs the risk of spoiling those children and in turn may end up worse as a result of being raised in such an affluent environment, as he has seen firsthand with Joel's lack of parental oversight and the idea the Hoobers are doing their jobs solely by providing a fancy home life for him.
While leaving a store one day, Joel is stopped by one of the store's security guards. Joel immediately denies stealing anything and looks to Tony to corroborate the story: Tony refuses and Joel is apprehended. Joel later tells Tony that his punishment for shoplifting isn't very harsh in terms of the law but he'll have to go to a military academy when school starts again. Surprisingly, Joel doesn't seem to blame Tony for this outcome.
In the end, Tony finds a certain amount of peace as he accepts his life with help of his counselor. He also resolves to put away his binoculars to stop his voyeurism, but also notes wryly, "Then again, maybe I won't."
While this novel is similar to aspects of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, it differs mainly in the secondary themes. While Margaret struggled with her issues of religion and being raised in an interfaith family, Tony Miglione struggles with the issues of his family social climbing and to a lesser extent, American society. A similarity to both stories, aside from the physical maturity of both characters, is that Tony develops a crush on the eldest daughter of his next door neighbors, just as Margaret had feelings for her neighbor's friend. However, Tony also has to deal with the fact that she is three years older than he is, and that if such a crush was indeed to get serious the age difference would be uncommon among guys he knows. Both stories also dealt with moving from an urban area to the suburbs, but the reason behind the move for Tony's family is his father's success with his invention and desire to move to a wealthier community.
Themes dealt with include the effects on Tony of losing the working-class life he had been used to in his Italian-American neighborhood in Jersey City, and being ill at ease in his new upper-class community. In addition, Tony's grandmother has been marginalized, as she loved to cook for the family in Jersey City and was told that this would be inappropriate in their new home. She confines herself to her room after the Migliones hire Maxine, a maid who takes advantage of the family's inexperience with their new lifestyle, and essentially directs the household to her wants instead of taking orders from the family.
The penultimate chapter in the book deals with the fact that what goes around comes around in regards to Joel's immoral actions. Tony and Joel are at a sporting goods store where the employees successfully catch Joel shoplifting golf balls and Tony refuses to aid Joel in lying. Tony anticipates that his parents will learn for themselves of Joel's true nature when they read tomorrow's newspaper and see Joel will be remanded to the juvenile facility, but is surprised when he learns the owner of the sporting goods store declines to press charges against Joel for shoplifting. Joel's father then decides to enroll Joel in a military academy, which he believes will cure Joel of his "I will do what I want, when I want" attitude and deprive him of his pampered lifestyle at the Hoober home.
The time frame of this story is evidently the late 1960s or early 1970s, as Tony's eldest brother, Vinnie, has been killed in action in the Vietnam War. Initially set in Jersey City, New Jersey, the family eventually moves to Rosemont, New York on Long Island. Other themes touched upon are how Tony's family seems to be knowingly and willingly distancing themselves from their Italian heritage as not many Italian-Americans live in Rosemont (evidence of this is shown when Tony's mother allows herself to be called "Carol" by Mrs. Hoober instead of Carmella, her true name). Another theme is how Tony's family is keeping up with the Joneses by emulating their next door neighbors, the Hoobers (although Tony's mother is clearly more concerned with social image than his father). Mr. Hoober is vice president of a pharmaceutical company and is apparently extremely well compensated, which gives his wife the chance to spend her days playing golf and socializing. The Hoobers are representative of the "high-powered American family" and seem to believe the "American way" is about money, affluent living, social status and not much else. As a result, they do not seem to give much attention to the trouble-making son Joel, who has the idea he can get away with anything because nobody is watching over him or enforcing discipline.
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