A narrator introduces us to Mary Daisy Dinkle, a charming and personable 8 year-old girl living in Mount

Waverly, Melbourne, Australia. She lives in a quaint house with her mother, Vera, who is addicted to
sherry and includes it in nearly all of her awful cooking, and her father, Noel, who spends much of his time
locked away in an outdoor shed drinking and performing taxidermy on birds that he's found dead on the
freeway. At school, Mary is often made fun of for a birthmark on her forehead. With no friends besides her
pet rooster, Ethel, and the lack of support from her parents, Mary finds solace in food, including condensed
milk, and her favorite television show, the Noblets. She creates her own toys and fantasizes about one day
marrying a man named Earl Grey, after her favorite tea, and living in a castle in Scotland.

Max Jerry Horowitz is a 44 year-old, morbidly obese man living in New York City in a small apartment. He
also enjoys watching the Noblets but suffers from social anxieties and has no friends besides his goldfish
Henry VIII, who has sadly just passed away. Max decides to quickly buy another fish and name him Henry IX
before indulging in another chocolate hotdog to help him sleep.

One day, while accompanying her mother as she 'borrows' envelopes from the local post office, Mary
decides to write a letter to someone in America. She happens upon the name 'Max Horowitz' from the
directory just as Vera is caught stuffing envelopes up her dress. Mary grabs the address from the book as
her mother grabs her and flees the post office. At home, Mary writes her introductory letter to Max and
includes in her package a drawing of herself and a chocolate bar as a token of friendship.

Meanwhile, Max has just arrived home from his weekly Overeaters Anonymous meeting particularly
disturbed due to unwanted flirtations from a woman in his class. Max doesn't understand most social cues
and finds people complicated. Upon finding and reading Mary's letter, Max becomes even more unsettled
and resorts to swaying in a corner, something he does to calm himself in the face of a stressful event.
However, after calming himself, Max sits down to his typewriter and begins writing out a reply to Mary. He
answers all of her questions while describing his life. Besides his fish Henry, Max shares the apartment with
a few snails, a parakeet, a one-eyed cat, and an imaginary friend named Mr. Ravioli who spends his time
reading in the corner since Max's psychiatrist informed Max that he didn't need him anymore. Max writes
that he was born Jewish but has since become an atheist, although he still wears his yarmulke since it keeps
his head warm. He sends out his letter and some photos and the recipe to his chocolate hotdogs.

The letter arrives on Mary's doorstep a few days later, only to be picked up and read by Vera, who is not
impressed by whom she thinks is a nutcase writing to her daughter. She throws the letter in the trash. The
next morning before school, Mary helps bring the trash out to the curb and, when it is accidentally knocked
over, discovers the crumpled letter from Max. She hides it from her mother and reads it in private later on.
She writes back and informs Max to mail his letters to her elderly neighbor so that her parents don't
discover them. Mr. Len Hislop is a WWII veteran who lost his legs while being a prisoner in Japan. Since
then, he's been confined to a wheelchair and suffers from agoraphobia, so Mary delivers his mail for him. In
her letter, Mary describes how she is teased at school and asks Max for any advice and if he's ever been
teased. This question is unsettling to Max to a severe it brings supressed memories to the surface of when
he was bullied as a child. After calming down, he writes a reply and attaches the pompom Mary made to
the top of his yarmulke. He suggests that Mary tell her teasers that her birthmark is actually made of
chocolate, which means that she will be in charge of all of it when she gets to heaven. Mary's reply, which
includes a happy conclusion to her bullying and a proclamation of love for her Greek neighbor Damien
Popodopolous leaves Max with an anxiety attack that makes him emotionally and psychologically numb.
He is in hospital for 8 months and given advanced treatment (cue electric shock therapy) while Mary waits
and wonders what's become of him. Eventually, she falls into a depression, and tries to erase all evidence
of their friendship.

Mary and Max continue on with their lives for some time, each trying to cope with their troubles. While
Mary pouts in self-hatred, Max finds himself facing manslaughter charges when his air conditioning unit
falls out of his window and crushes a mime. However, due to his mental problems, he is pardoned. Shortly
after, Max is astonished to see that he's won the lottery and puts his newfound wealth to good use. He
buys the entire collection of Noblets action figures and a lifetime supply of chocolate. He gives the rest of
his wealth to his elderly and nearly blind neighbor, Ivy, who indulges in every personal luxury before
passing away and willing her fortune to a local cat shelter whose owner pockets every cent. Despite his
wealth in chocolate and Noblets, Max feels unfulfilled until he figures out that his friendship with Mary,
while unsettling, was incomparable and, with the encouragement of his psychiatrist, writes another letter.
He apologizes for his absence and explains that he was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. He
lists the various traits along with a lamentation for being unable to cry properly. Elated to have finally
received another letter, Mary responds and encloses a vial of her own tears as a gift to Max. Over the years
they continue to write and Max learns to deal with the slightest hint of anxiety that Mary's letters might
encourage.

However, while Max's world continues as normal, if not in an improving manner, Mary's life becomes more
complicated. First comes the passing of her father who is swept away by a rogue wave while metal
detecting on a beach, this coming shortly after he quit his job at the tea factory. Mary is left a sum of
money and uses it to go to university to study mental disorders. Over time, she tries to gain the romantic
attention of her neighbor Damien, to no avail and often with embarassing consequences, leaving her to sob
alone in her room. Her failed attempts at romance leave her to lament that she wasted her savings to have
her birthmark removed and resigns herself to the fact that love is not for her. Meanwhile, Vera, after
suffering prolonged grief and remorse for her husband, accidentally swallows a bottle of formaldehyde,
mistaking it for her sherry. Still, this tragedy encouarages Damien to comfort Mary and the two soon fall in
love and are married.

Mary writes that her life is now perfect with Damien, who has a pen-friend in New Zealand. Her self
esteem is blossoming and her studies at university have culminated into a goal to cure the world of mental
illness. She writes her thesis on Asperger's Syndrome and uses Max as a case study, eventually writing her
own book on the disability. She sends her first copy to Max but, upon seeing it, he is flung into an
uncontrollable rage. He never thought he had a 'disability' and finds the matter surrounding his difference
offensive. Unable to put his thoughts coherently to paper, Max sends his 'M' key to Mary just as she is
about to visit him in New York. His silent but powerful message sends Mary into a deep depression and she
takes all of her book copies to an industrial shredder and destroys them. She finds solace in two-minute
noodles and sherry and wallows in her self loathing until one day she suddenly notices that Damien has left
her, explaining in a letter that he's fallen in love with his pen-friend Desmond and has gone to live with him
on his sheep farm.

Meanwhile, Max has since overcome his anger and decides to write Mary back. He sends her his entire
collection of Noblet figures as a sign that he's forgiven her and, as he counts the stars after sending his
package, suddenly feels complete.

As the package arrives on Mary's doorstep, Mary prepares to hang herself, unaware that she is pregnant.
Her neighbor, Len, notices her package on the doorstep and, with a burst of confidence and purpose,
wheels himself outside and across the street to ring the doorbell. The sound catches Mary off guard and
she takes the noose off her neck to answer the door, finding a gleeful Len and her package. Len returns to
his home triumphant as Mary finds Max's letter and his Noblet collection. Some time later, and with her
new baby, Mary travels to New York and climbs the stairs of Max's apartment building. She finds his
apartment and opens the unlocked door. Within, she finds the Noblets playing on the tv and Max leaning
back on his sofa, having passed away peacefully that morning. As she sits beside him, Mary follows his gaze
upward and is astonished to see that Max has pasted her letters all over the ceiling. She cradles her baby as
she notes to herself that Max smells of licorice and old books while tears roll down her cheeks.
Issues for discussion:

1) the theme of true, sacrificial friendship

The theme of true friendship is leading in this cartoon. As we know, before writing a letter to Max
Mary was completely alone. She considered her friends a rooster, Ethel, and homemade Nobles.
Of course, she dreamed of communicating with her peers, but she only suffered because of them.
Max was also lonely. I don't think that Mary wrote to Max by accident. I'm sure they both needed
each other. Their friendship was primitive in some ways, because they simply talked about their
problems and sent each other favorite treats, but their it can also be considered as an example of
true one. In my opinion, without this communication, they would both not be like that. They taught
each other how to live and gave advice despite such a big difference in age. Speaking of sacrifice,
they both valued each other so much that they were willing to give everything for the other. For
example, Mary destroyed all copies of her book when she learned that Max was angry to see the
book. She knew that because of it her success would fall, but for her communication with Max was
more valuable than her future. And Max, in turn, gave all his figures that were so dear to him,
which also shows his love for Mary.

2) the attitude of a society towards people with mental disorders

As in our reality, so in the cartoon, people with mental disabilities are considered incapable of
normal life. They are considered defective. This can be judged from the episode when Max is
released from punishment for murder due to mental health. I also have doubts about his personal
psychiatrist, I think he does not give Max proper treatment. And I immediately want to mention the
horrible inhumane methods of treatment in a mental hospital, where Max was treated for
depression.

3) the theme of children and their parents

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The theme of parents and children is also clearly expressed in this cartoon. Here is an example of how
parents should not treat their children. Mary's parents did not pay any attention to their daughter. Their
own desires were more important to them. They didn't know about the bullying or that Mary dreamed that
Dad would take her time at least once when he came home from work.

That is, the cartoon shows the indifference of parents to their child.