Winger

“Nothing that bordered on the undisciplined or unorthodox was tolerated at [Pine Mountain]. Not even facial hair, not that I had anything to worry about as far as that rule was concerned…The only thing I’d ever shaved was maybe a couple points off a Calculus test so my friends wouldn’t hate me if I set the curve too high.” 

This quote describes several elements of Ryan Dean’s character and establishes the culture of Pine Mountain. The “undisciplined” or “unorthodox” aren’t tolerated, which is both an ironic foreshadowing of Joey’s death and a description of the narrow boxes within which the students are expected to conform. Ryan Dean’s lack of facial hair illustrates that he’s younger than his classmates, and his academic prowess is also illustrated, as well as the competitiveness of the school where work is graded on a curve.

“Everyone on the team knew that Joey was gay, but no one ever had a problem with it, either. He was honest about it with the guys, and they accepted him because of it, plus he never acted or talked like the stereotypical gay guys that people think are caricatures of the entire population…That’s one of the other things about rugby too: I think that because it is such a fringe kind of sport that practically borders on the insane, rugby guys stick up for and tolerate one another more than boys tend to do in other sports. Sure, sometimes the guys would make teasing jokes behind Joey’s back and even to his face, but they did that to every single player on the team, and being gay, or uncoordinated, or only fourteen and in eleventh grade for that matter, didn’t really have anything to do with it, because there was absolute equality of opportunity in being picked on in a good-natured kind of way. But no one on our team ever took it too seriously.”

Ryan Dean’s perception here of how well his peers accept Joey’s sexuality is faulty. While none of the rugby players are involved with Joey’s murder, Ryan Dean’s comparison of Joey’s sexual identity to mild flaws (being uncoordinated) or differences (“fourteen and in eleventh grade”) is problematic because Joey’s “different” identity leads to his death, unlike the other examples he gives. This quote’s placement at the beginning of the story probably indicates that Ryan Dean doesn’t truly grasp the potential bigotry of his schoolmates and that the events of the story will lead to his “fall from innocence.”