#rm annotations

[stranger-rants]

Runaway Max Annotation Series

This is part of a series I am doing on Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff. To see previous posts including the annotation guide, check the [#rm annotations] tag on my blog. These posts will follow the general formula of summary, annotations, quotes, and any thoughts or analysis I want to provide based on my own interpretation of the text. You can use my posts as references in fandom discussions.

Runaway Max Chapter Two

Max and Billy experience their first day of school. Max talks about her life back in San Diego, and why she tried to run away to L.A. to be with her dad.

Annotations:

1) Background

Their first day of school was "a Tuesday, more than a month after school already started," which means they started school mid-October. Max had friends in San Diego named Ben, Eddie, and Nate. She didn't have female friends.

2) Family Context

Max ran away to stay with her dad in L.A. after she had been told that they were moving to Hawkins. Susan views her ex-husband as wasting his smarts on irresponsible things and inconsistent work. He did some illegal jobs here and there, and he lives in a dingy apartment.

3) Unreliable Statements / Limited P.O.V.

Max says that she thinks having Billy around is making Susan crazy, but there's little to no context explaining why she thinks this. Susan is getting them ready for school, and Billy doesn't say or do much of anything to combat this.

4) Evidence of Abuse / Neglect

Neil is the one making them move. Max thinks that Susan is just going along with it. Max's father is not a responsible parent. He is often late in picking her up and frequently falls asleep in front of the T.V. Susan doesn't trust him to take care of Max, which begs the question - why would she trust Billy to take care of Max?

6) Max & Billy Relationship

There isn't much antagonism between them in this chapter which is odd given the supposed circumstances that lead to the move not yet revealed or even hinted at early in the novel. Instead, there is an attempt at solidarity in being pissed off about the move - Billy says Hawkins sucks and says, "I bet you're already planning your next jailbreak right?"

7) Valuable Insights

Susan and Max disagree greatly on how a young girl should dress and act.

8) Billy's Characterization

Billy is enraged by the move. Max says he "lost it" when he found out, but he expresses this mostly by keeping to himself. He blasts his music in his room and refuses to eat dinner with the family. Billy is told by Susan to drive Max to the middle school and walk in with her to make sure she gets what she needs. Billy drops her off, refusing to go in.

Quote(s):

Billy rolled his head sideways to look at me. "But I don't want to, Max. They're not paying me to babysit you. If you don't like it, maybe tomorrow you can walk."

This chapter reveals just how poorly planned this book is because there's not a drop of a hint of a piece of evidence as to why the family moved to Hawkins, even though fans adamantly use this book as evidence that the move was all Billy's fault. There is no hint that Billy blames Max or that Max blames Billy for it.

I know that later information contradicts this by putting blame on Billy's violence, but information that is revealed later on isn't meant to contradict the entire tone of a chapter but rather enhance it. The feeling the reader gets from this chapter is that Max and Billy didn't want to move, and they're unhappy in Hawkins.

Not that they're ready to kill each other over it.

I am endlessly fascinated that Max's mom doesn't want Max around her father because he's "irresponsible" but then turns around and expects her step son to babysit Max for free. It's his first day, too, and she expects him to not only drive her to school but check her in when he has to do that for himself when he gets to the high school.

Billy explains himself clearly and logically to Max as to why he's not going to do what Susan wants him to do, and you know what? He's right. Not only that, but Max is perfectly capable of checking herself in. The statement that Billy is "driving Susan crazy" is also random and lacking context, making Billy out to be the "bad guy" for being an annoyed teenager.

This doesn't mean that Billy hasn't done anything to piss her off or drive her crazy, but there is absolutely no context for the statement that explains what he's saying or doing that's so wrong. I cannot emphasize enough that statements are just made about Billy with little to no detail backing them up, so the reader is just expected to believe Max.

Max was also unlikeable in this chapter for one main reason - the "I'm not like other girls" attitude she carries. It's fine that she doesn't vibe with femininity in the way that her mother expects her too, but she puts herself above other girls in many ways to make herself "different" from them. She is a child, though, so this can change over time.

Back to Susan... Again. I have to say this again.

If Susan really doesn't trust Max's father to take care of her, it makes no narrative sense to expect Billy, her step son who she supposedly can't stand, to be Max's babysitter. It's irresponsible. If she wants Max checked in at school, she can do it herself because that's certainly not Billy's job when he also has school to go to.

The main thing we learn about Billy is that Billy is basically parentified and somehow that makes him the bad guy.

[stranger-rants]

Runaway Max Annotations

This is part of a series I am doing on Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff. To see previous posts including the annotation guide, check the [#rm annotations] tag on my blog. These posts will follow the general formula of summary, annotations, quotes, and any thoughts or analysis I want to provide based on my own interpretation of the text. You can use my posts as references in fandom discussions.

Runaway Max Chapter Three

Max recounts the time she began to see Neil's true colors as she prepares for Halloween in Hawkins.

Annotations:

2) Family Context

Every Wednesday, Susan would make rigatoni and meat balls. Then, Max and Susan would sit on the couch together and watch Family Feud. Neil breaks up this routine and after three weeks of marriage, he makes the family go out to dinner.

4) Evidence of Abuse / Neglect

Neil is abusive towards Max when he perceives Max giving her mother attitude their first dinner out after Susan and Neil have been married three weeks. He says, "You answer your mother," "I'm warning you," "If you don't get that mouth under control, you're going to be one sorry little girl," "You need to learn a thing or two about how to talk to your father," and when Max mutters that he's not her father, Neil sends her out to the car before she can finish her dinner. In Hawkins, he says that Max is getting too old for Halloween and that Susan shouldn't encourage her to dress up.

Max & Billy Relationship

After Neil sends Max out to the car, Billy checks on her. He says, "you really did it this time, declaring war on Neil." Max tries to explain that she doesn't want to consider Neil, "her father" and Billy tells her not to worry about it. He says, "It's not like he's my dad either." Max is confused, but Billy clarifies this by saying Neil is a horrible guy and he's not like a real father should be. In Hawkins, Billy also judges her for dressing up for Halloween. However, he reasons that she can do what she wants but people will think she's "a baby" for still dressing up.

7) Valuable Insights

Max loves Halloween, but more importantly she loves monsters. She loves Michael Myers because he was a "real" kind of monster.

8) Billy's Characterization

Billy is seemingly bored or checked out during their first dinner together. Max says he spent the entire time "leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling." Billy does go to check on Max after Neil punished her, and he does validate Max's feelings about Neil. He says Max's name in a "sing song" voice whenever he's annoyed with her, and in this chapter it was in the context of waiting for her to get ready for school so they could leave.

Quotes(s):

"He's a horrible guy, Max. Haven't you figured that out? You really think a guy like that could be a father? Not to me, and not to you."

This chapter shows us when Max really began to realize that Neil was a bad person, and in a way she has to be told this by Billy. She hates Neil, but she doesn't fully understand yet what he's capable of doing.

Billy's behavior is somewhat... protective. In the capacity that he can be. Max thinks that Billy is about to hug her when he reassures her that she doesn't need to think of Neil as her father. However, Billy doesn't hug her. His expression is flat. His eyes look heavy to her, before he explains that Neil is a horrible person. I don't think Billy can show that kind of comfort or affection to Max even if he wanted to because of the abuse we know he experienced, but he is trying to warn Max about what to expect. That shows a level of empathy and kindness that I think many people argue he doesn't have.

Even when it came to dressing up for Halloween, his reasoning for it was almost protective. Neil says she's too old for it, but he's been trying to control what Max says and does for months. Billy tells her to "go ahead" with it, but to not be surprised if she's basically bullied for it. In a twisted way, he's looking out for her. Again, I don't think he's got the capacity to give comfort or affection to Max with the way he's just been surviving under Neil. In a better time and place, it does give us a glimpse as to what their relationship could look like.

Neil is Billy's own father, so it catches Max by surprise when Billy insists that Neil isn't his father. This isn't meant to be taken literally. It means that Billy doesn't think Neil fits the profile of a father, and he fully recognizes that Neil is a horrible person. This is both very interesting and concerning to me. It's interesting to me because often abuse survivors have a hard time recognizing their abusers as abusers while they're surviving, especially if their abusers are their parents. That's why it's also very concerning to me, because if Billy can recognize that Neil is so horrible he can't possibly ever be considered a father... then what has Billy really experienced up until this point? The implications aren't good - almost like what happens to Billy after meeting Max is tame in comparison to the past.

[stranger-rants]

Runaway Max Annotation Series

This is part of a series I am doing on Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff. To see previous posts including the annotation guide, check the [#rm annotations] tag on my blog. These posts will follow the general formula of summary, annotations, quotes, and any thoughts or analysis I want to provide based on my own interpretation of the text. You can use my posts as references in fandom discussions.

Runaway Max Chapter One

Max skateboards through downtown Hawkins. She falls off her skateboard, scraping her knee. Billy pulls up in his Camaro to take her home. He looks bored. Max thinks back to their first meeting.

This one is longer, so it is going under a read more.

Annotations:

1) Background

Max is skating through downtown Hawkins in October (Halloween season). She enjoys playing Dig Dug at the Palace Arcade. Based on her statements it appears Max met Billy in April, though this is not made explicitly clear / the phrasing is a bit weird.

2) Family Context

Max used to play games at the Joy Town Arcade with her father in California. After the divorce, her father moved to L.A. Susan dated a series of losers, and Max says she "disappeared into the personality of every guy she dated." The men she dated either left or they were kicked out. Max says, "Neil was different." Neil was a guard at the bank where Susan was a teller. He would call her Sleeping Beauty, and actively romanced her.

3) Unreliable Statements / Limited P.O.V

Max says that Billy looks at her like she was "something he wanted to scrape off him," and she pairs this with claiming that he always looks bored around her. We don't know the reason as to why Billy is picking Max up, nor does he explain what he is thinking or feeling then. Max says she believed that "the Hargroves were here to make everything better - or at least okay," which not only sets her up for disappointment but makes every interaction with Billy out to be an evaluation of his worth to her and vice versa.

4) Evidence of Abuse / Neglect

There are already numerous red flags. Neil compares Susan to Sleeping Beauty, which Max interprets to mean that she's "stuck." So, she would be easier for Neil to control. Billy is also described as "sleepy" with moments of sudden alertness. This may indicate dissociation and/or (C)PTSD in Billy. Neil is very controlling. He controls when and where Susan and Max meet his son. He gets rid of things in Susan's own home that he doesn't personally like. He glares, waiting for Billy the first time Susan and Max are set to meet him. He also refuses to stop calling Max, "Maxine."

5) Neil / Billy Associations

Max was expecting Billy to be more like Neil - "a preppie football type."

6) Max & Billy Relationship

Max was excited to have a brother. She thinks he's cool, or rather "rad" - especially his earring. She says she thought getting a brother was going to change her life. Billy talks to her in a cool casual, sarcastic manner and Max tries to gain some approval from him by talking about cars.

He calls her "Maxine" in a sarcastic manner to contrast with Neil who says it more seriously. He also gives her the name "Mad Max." He says Max is "just a kid," but it is explicitly mentioned that Billy is in high school. So, he's not that much older. Based on the timeline, there's about a five year age gap between the two.

Their canon meeting in the show is at a much younger age, and they've known each other longer. In the book, they've only known each other a few months before moving and Billy didn't meet her until after their parents got engaged.

7) Other Valuable Insights; Potentially Useful Information

Max talks about having seen the Terminator. Billy dressed up as the Terminator for Halloween in the show. Does this mean Billy took her to see it?

8) Billy's Characterization

Billy drives fast, and Max compares Billy to his Camaro - "fast and hard edged like a car." Her opinion of the Camaro shifts from thinking it's a cool car to thinking it's like a monster. This is similar to how her opinion shifts about Billy over time. He goes from "looking like a movie star" with his sprayed hair and an open shirt, to looking perpetually bored and sleepy and giving Max a look she interprets as disdain whenever she's around him.

Thoughts:

Billy is given limited opportunity to express his own thoughts and feelings narratively outside of Max's lens, which is one of the biggest problems when people insist on using this book as a reliable source on Billy's characterization. Everything is implied, and for any reader unwilling to give Billy dimension it is easy to write off every interaction as evidence that Billy is an awful person.

However, I don't think the text so clearly characterizes Billy as this horrible person even if the author intended it. The author and/or the reader could have bad intentions when it comes to talking about Billy as a survivor and a bully. Yet, Billy is almost by accident a complex, sympathetic character as long as the reader is putting the pieces together.

Billy is already disillusioned with Neil. Max is not at that point, but the breadcrumbs are there. She just needs to follow them to the source - that Neil is a controlling, abusive man. Everything about Billy screams, "something is very wrong here" but Billy is made to be the "wrong" because of his proximity to Max. He's fast. He's hard edged. He's unlike Neil. He's bored. He looks at her like she's nothing...

...yet he does attempt small talk with her upon their first meeting and refers to the Camaro as a "bitchin' ride," while sort of sizing Max up. He laughs at her attempts to impress him, but he's not cruel. There's something about their first meeting that says that Billy thinks all of this is some sort of joke and that Max needs to wake up and realize it, too.

Neil and Susan exist in their own world together, almost ignoring their children and making no effort to accommodate their meeting or help them adjust. I get the impression that they're being selfish, and they see each other as solutions. Max is optimistic because she's a child and she's not ready to fully acknowledge her mother's faults.

Billy is pessimistic because he's been living with his abuser for a long time and that abuse, which is unknown to Max at that point, informs much of his attitudes and behaviors. Max doesn't have the knowledge nor the understanding to talk about these aspects of Billy, and as a child we shouldn't expect her to. However, many of the readers of this book aren't children and we do have the resources, at least, to know better.

Readers should have more questions than answers at this point. Why is Billy picking Max up if he's so bored and annoyed with her existence? Why does Neil avoid talking about or introducing Billy for a long time? Why does Neil feel he has the right to rearrange Susan's home before he's even moved in? Why are they rushing to get married? Why does Susan "disappear" into the personalities of the men she dates? Why did Max's dad immediately move farther away? Did he abandon her too? Is Max unable to accept it? Why does she want Neil and Billy to make things better, especially if she really wants to be with her dad?

And so on and so forth.

[stranger-rants]

Runaway Max Annotation Guide

I am working on annotating Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff. This book is often used to argue points re: Billy Hargrove's character, where he is described in summary as "totally out of control," "violent," and "terrifying." The book is told in Max Mayfield's limited first person point of view, which creates challenges to understanding Billy and the context of his life without a strong bias.

My goal is to unravel what exactly is happening in the Hargrove Mayfield household especially as it applies to Max and Billy and their relationship. This book is not 100% canon compliant, and as such I will discuss its limitations. Unfortunately, one of those limitations is the overall lack of Billy's point of view. Despite enduring canon abuse within the show and book, he's not given much of a voice on it.

I will be giving him a voice as much as I can by talking about what he's experiencing and why it's important to separate Max's thoughts as a child within the dysfunctional household from the reality of Billy's situation. After each chapter, I will provide a brief summary and a list of annotations. I am using highlighter stickers to mark up the book and a notebook to record my annotations.

If you would like to follow up on this series I am doing, you can check [#rm annotations] on my blog which will also be tagged below. Here is my list of annotations and what they mean and/or include.

1) Background Information; Timeline

Basic "objective" facts such as setting and scene, as well as details that help establish a timeline of events.

2) Family Context; Circumstances

Details we're told about the Hargrove Mayfield household. This could include "objective" facts like where Neil or Susan work, or details that expose their family dynamics.

3) Unreliable Statements; Limited P.O.V.

Details that are subjective, or presented as true from a limited point of view. Missing information. Implications that can't be fully verified. Things that are assumed about a character's thoughts and feelings that aren't explicitly expressed by that character - mainly about Billy.

4) Evidence of Abuse / Neglect

Explicit or implied instances of abuse and/or neglect. Emphasis on the role of Neil and Susan as parents. Does not include antagonism between Max and Billy unless it's relevant or contextualized by the abuse and/or neglect from their parents.

5) Neil / Billy Associations

Documenting the context in which comparisons are made between Billy and his abuser, Neil.

6) Max & Billy Relationship

The development of Max and Billy's relationship over the course of the novel; good, neutral, and bad interactions included.

7) Other Valuable Insights; Potentially Useful Information

Details that I think are important to the plot or characterization that may or may not have to do with Billy. They may "fill in gaps" within the overall Stranger Things narrative.

8) Characterization of Billy

Includes external and internal factors such as Billy's appearance, mannerisms, speech, actions, thoughts, interactions, and what other characters think, feel, say about Billy Hargrove.

Here is a preview of what these annotations will look like in practice. (A detailed description of these will be available in my next post in this series: Runaway Max Prologue)

There are multiple ways to read and understand a book. These ways are informed by the reader's own biases. That includes me. I am providing my own interpretation of the book, and that comes with my own limitations. You can use my posts as references for fandom discussions, but I am not making these posts specifically to argue with people. If you don't like my interpretations, you can make your own.

[stranger-rants]

Runaway Max Annotation Series

This is part of a series I am doing on Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff. To see previous posts including the annotation guide, check the [#rm annotations] tag on my blog. These posts will follow the general formula of summary, annotations, quotes, and any thoughts or analysis I want to provide based on my own interpretation of the text. You can use my posts as references in fandom discussions.

Runaway Max Prologue

Max attempts to run away from home by taking the bus from San Diego to L.A. She is stopped by cops before she is able to leave.

Annotations:

1) Background

Max is twelve. She describes herself as "average" in height and appearance except for her hair. She is at a San Diego bus station, and she plans on leaving to see her biological father.

2) Family Context

Max is already living with her step family. She compares Neil to a "creepy string bean" cop at the bus station. She implies that her step dad is not a good person multiple times, but doesn't explicitly say why. He is a contributing factor to her running away. The other being that Max wants to reunite with her father who lives in L.A. There's no mention of Billy. Max is caught before she can take the bus, and we're told by the cops that her parents are worried sick about her.

7) Valuable Insights

Max stole money from her mother's jewelry box to pay for the bus ticket.

Quotes:

"The tall one (cop) had fast pale eyes and long, skinny arms like a spider. He was pacing up and down between the benches in that way cops always do. It's a slow official walk that says 'I may be a creepy string bean, but I'm the one with the badge and the gun.' It reminded me of my stepdad."

Thoughts

Max is eager to reunite with her father, which is interesting because we're told that he's not the most responsible or reliable person. I question how much her father cares about her. I don't know what would actually happen if she was able to leave. Max and Billy could have bonded over parental abandonment had they not been pit against each other.

Max wants good things for her mother, which is expressed in other chapters. However, Max also has some problems with her mother. The fact that she was comfortable with stealing money from her and running away suggests their bond isn't as strong as it should be and that there's family dysfunction that Neil and/or Billy aren't responsible for.

In fandom, there's this belief held among some that the introduction of Neil and/or Billy ruined Max and Susan's lives. While the family dysfunction in the combined Hargrove Mayfield household certainly didn't make things better, Max was already used to emotional neglect prior to their introduction. She is already on her own in many ways.

This is underscored in the prologue.

[stranger-rants]

Gonna lay down for a bit and then work on some Runaway Max annotations. If you would like to see previous posts in the series, check out the tag below.