Name: Leslye Velez

Date: January 11, 2024

Teacher: Mrs. Barone

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

10 Quotes

1. “The words were still scrawled on the bathroom wall in there, and it made me wonder if
they couldn’t get them cleaned off or if the nuns left them there as a reminder: JESUS
LOVES YOU. DON’T BE A HOMO.” That fit somehow. Together, it sounds like a
conditional phrase. Separately it sounds like one guy being nice and another guy being
an asshole. But the most surprising thing about it was the way it could be twisted with
one extra word. JESUS LOVES YOU BUT DON’T BE A HOMO. It was all in how you
read it. “Jesus loves you” basically says “Come as you are.” “Don’t be a homo passes
judgment. They contradict each other, like everything else in life, I guess. You’ll hear one
thing that gives you hope and another thing that takes it away. Be who you are. But not
like that. Anything but that.” (Pg 251-252)
a. Society’s evershifting standards for what one should be or should not be are
completely unattainable and unrealistic. If one does something, they are criticized
for it, but if not, then they are also criticized for that.
2. “Most people are afraid of themselves, Adam. They carry their fear everywhere hoping
no one will notice.” (Pg 55)
a. This quote is regarding everyones fear and hope to be accepted. Everyone
hopes to be liked, even when they say they don’t. It’s human nature to want to
be, and that is alright. This only adds to his credibility.
3. “I like how people only tell you not to worry about stuff when it’s something they don’t
care about.” (Pg 59)

a. Walton does an amazing job here of connecting with us, and this is one of the
things that I highlighted and specifically chose to put here because I thought it
was super powerful and eye opening.

4. “Sometimes I really do think I’m at my most charming in writing.” (Pg 84)

a. I figure this is self-explanatory, it’s very teenage-esque and it shows his charm
and willingness to write, not only for himself, but to show that he is capable of
writing and excels at doing so.

5. “Sometimes I’m jealous of people with regular problems. At school I see the self-
concious girls worrying about their hair or if their legs look fat, and I just want to scream.
Someone should tell them their problems are stupid.” (Pg 87)
a. This quote goes to show that Adam is indeed concentrating almost fully on his
illness, as we can see displayed throughout the novel. Julia Walton does a nice
job of portraying this throughout while still making the book interesting, putting
the dosage of his medicine at the beginning of every therapy writing entrance.
Everyone always places their own
6. “But it can’t be denied that they have something beautiful. It must be nice having
someone to come home to every day. Someone to be gross with.” (Pg 109)
 a. Again, the romantic parts of this book are definitely not spared, as he is both
navigating his mom’s relationship and his own. Here, I believe Walton refers
more to not only the character in her novel, but herself and her audience. I took a
look at the demographics and audience reach/engagement after this, and. I
found that the majority were female, which made sense to me.
7. “My mom told me something once, right after my dad left. You lose your secrets when
you let people get too close. That was the scariest thing for her when she started dating.
I get it now. It’s hard to let someone find you in all the dark and twisty places inside, but
eventually, you have to hope that they do, because that’s the beginning of
everything.”(Pg 152)
a. Walton describes a lot here, and it definitely is a significant amount to unpack.
His mother seemed to have a negative outlook on letting people in while she was
dating, but she eventually had to let someone in, which turned out to be Paul, the
man that she is very much in love with. I believe that because of the mom’s own
values and interests that she instilled in Adam, he progresses significantly
throughout the book. I firmly believe that if not for this, he would not have
changed the way he did.
8. “I guess I just don’t want her to know the truth. I’m afraid of what she’d do with that
information.” (Pg 153)

a. Nobody truly opens up anymore. This is also because of the digital age I’m
afraid. But if anything, the fear that drives him insane was not worth telling the
people that loved him how much he was really struggling.

9. “But the truth was that he didn’t really love us. When you love somebody, you try to be
better.” (Pg 39)

a. Is this true? I feel like this is touched on in every romance movie I have ever
seen. Walton touches on love here, and I’m sure that this is part of the
background that she tried to instill in Adam, the values that she’s using with her
family and new baby.

10. “Paul ends every phone call with family members with “Love you.” No matter how heated
the argument is. He could have had a conversation like: I HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU
REALIZE HOW MUCH SHAME AND DISHONOR YOU’VE BROUGHT ON THE
FAMILY…Love you.” (Pg 180)
a. My mother always liked to say that you should never end the day angry with
anyone.” Love is bountiful and is meant to be spread with all, who knows what
will happen overnight.” This quote, however, doesn’t display the maturity that my
mom does. It’s possible that it’s my own bias, but Julia Walton does a wonderful
job of encapsulating a teenage boy’s observation. “There is really no substitute
for family.” - Inventing Anna Episode 9 30:29.
11. “Once words tumble out of your mouth, there’s no room for editing. It’s out there.” (Pg
198)
a. Goes to show how much Adam really does feel better about writing things, and I
also feel this way. This plays into more of the pathos of the story, making us
realize that he is really one of us and we need to start thinking of him in a more
realistic matter, rather than just a character in a book. This also plays into social
media & the digital age, because there are a lot of people now that prefer to type
things out (as we’re doing now), or just write instead of actually talking.