Rodrick Rules

“I took one look at the picture on the CD and told Rowley that Joshie was supposed to be for six-year-old girls, but he didn’t believe me. Rowley said I was just jealous because he was the one who ‘discovered’ Joshie.”

Although Greg and Rowley call each other best friends, their friendship is full of tension. Greg cares deeply about being cool and fitting in, whereas Rowley never hesitates to do what makes him happy. However, Rowley can hold his own against Greg, and he won’t allow Greg to bully him into giving up his interests.

“Rodrick is the only one who knows about this REALLY embarrassing thing that happened to me over the summer [...] So if I ever tell on him for anything, he’ll spill my secret to the whole world.”

In Rodrick Rules, Kinney dangles a mystery in front of the reader in the opening chapters without fully explaining the embarrassing situation until the very end of the novel. By dropping small hints and constantly reminding the reader that Rodrick can spill Greg’s secret at any moment, Kinney builds tension throughout the novel, which comes to a head when Rodrick decides to get revenge on Greg for “ruining” his shot at fame after the talent show fiasco.

“I started parading Rowley around the cafeteria, because after all, he IS my best friend.”

Once Greg realizes that Rowley is becoming the center of attention after returning from his South American vacation, he suddenly decides that Rowley’s costume isn’t lame at all. Greg is unwilling to put himself out there and do things that could result in public humiliation, but he is more than willing to ride the coattails of someone like Rowley who takes on all the risk.

“This is the reason I keep my distance from Manny. Every time I try to have a little fun with him, I end up regretting it.”

Greg complains that every time he tries to play with Manny, he ends up getting in trouble. Greg initially saw Manny as an easy target, someone to mistreat the same way Rodrick mistreated him. Greg feels cheated because he can’t play with Manny the way he wants to, and he shows his frustration by trying to create distance between himself and Manny.

“After a couple of hours, Dad finally cracked [...] So I guess this means Rodrick’s system is safe, at least for now.”

Rodrick has learned that he can play on his father’s perfectionism and trick him into writing Rodrick’s essay for him. When Mrs. Heffley gives an ultimatum and says that Mr. Heffley isn’t allowed to help Rodrick, Rodrick knows exactly how to wear Mr. Heffley down and convince him to jump ship and help him. Rodrick may not be a straight-A student, but he is a master manipulator when it comes to his essays.

“I’m smaller than about 95% of the kids at my school, so when it comes to finding someone I can actually pick on, my options are pretty limited.”

Just like Greg is disappointed that he can’t pick on Manny at home, he feels too small and powerless at school to bully anyone. Greg jumps at the opportunity to tease Chirag Gupta because he is one of the few students that is smaller than Greg, and in Greg’s mind, bigger students have all the power. Greg pauses occasionally to consider whether or not his “joke” is crossing into bullying territory, but these moments never stop him from following through with the targeted harassment of his smaller classmate.

“I told Mom that first of all, I have zero money. And second of all, if I DID have any money, I wouldn’t be wasting it on ROWLEY.”

Greg’s comment reveals an important detail about his friendship with Rowley. As soon as Mrs. Heffley explains that Greg has to pay for Rowley’s gift with his own money, Greg admits that he wouldn’t spend money on Rowley at all, even though Rowley is supposed to be Greg’s best friend.

“I think he was so relieved to finally have one of his classmates talking to him again that he just decided to forgive me for the whole incident.”

To Greg, the ‘Invisible Chirag’ incident was simply a prank. To Chirag, however, the joke was an extremely upsetting experience. Chirag was ignored by his entire class for days, and Greg was the ringleader. Chirag’s reaction in this passage reveals how hurt he was by Greg’s “joke,” and Greg still chooses to be flippant about the whole incident.

“I kind of get the feeling she’s not gonna hold me to that honesty pledge anymore.”

After the Invisible Chirag situation, Greg’s mother warns him that if he is caught lying again, there will be serious consequences. Greg is intrigued by this concept of adopting total honesty, and he takes it to the extreme. Greg’s behavior goes from honest to rude, and when his mother asks him to tell a tiny lie for her, Greg refuses to comply until his mother is inconvenienced. Mrs. Heffley realizes that her ultimatum wasn’t the best way to teach the value of honesty, and she gives up on trying to stop Greg’s rampant dishonesty.

“The SECOND Mom and Dad walked out the door, Rodrick jumped up off the couch and picked up the phone. Then he called every friend he knew and told them he was having a party.”

After being sick for an entire week, Rodrick is “miraculously” healed the moment his parents leave for a whole night. Although Greg is tempted to call his parents and tell them about Rodrick’s party, he decides that he would rather stick around and see what a real high school party is like.

“He said if I didn’t help him clean up the mess, he would tell all my friends about the thing that happened to me this summer.”

Rodrick’s party becomes one of the most significant events in the novel because it demonstrates how far Rodrick is willing to push Greg to comply with his demands. Rodrick knows that he can dangle Greg’s embarrassing secret over him, and Greg will do almost anything to guarantee Rodrick’s silence. The last thing Greg wants to do is help Rodrick, but because Rodrick is the one with all the power in their relationship, Greg feels like he has no choice but to go along and try to prevent his own public humiliation.

“Mom actually bought all those books so me and RODRICK could play Magick and Monsters together. She said it was a good way for the two of us to work out our differences.”

When Greg starts to show an interest in Magick and Monsters, his mother is uncertain about the game until she plays it herself. Not only does this experience ruin Greg’s budding love for Magick and Monsters, but it also gives Mrs. Heffley the idea that Greg and Rodrick should play together.

“Unfortunately, I DON’T have a glass eye. So if Mom asks me why I flunked my pop quiz in Pre-Algebra today, that’s my excuse.”

When it comes to Greg’s affinity for cheating, no idea is too taboo or distasteful. Greg fantasizes about how great it would be to have a glass eye so he can get away with looking at another kid’s paper without being detected. Greg’s comments demonstrate how low he would be willing to go to cheat.

“The trick will be to not cash in too much at one time, or Mom will know something’s up.”

Greg doesn’t think through the possible consequences of trying to pass off so much money; he thinks only about everything he can buy with his new supply of Mom Bucks. Greg starts to formulate a plan to keep a low profile so his mother doesn’t catch on to what he has done, and he will have to pull every deceptive trick in the book if he wants to make the most of his newfound wealth.

“You know how Rodrick had Mr. Huff, my History teacher, in middle school? Well, it turns out Mr. Huff gave Rodrick’s class the EXACT same assignment when he was in my grade.”

Greg believes that Rodrick’s paper is one of the pristine essays written by Mr. Heffley, but when he opens the binder and finds a handwritten assignment done by Rodrick, he knows he is doomed. Greg learns the hard way that cheaters never prosper.

“Mom knew she never put $100,000 into circulation, so she confiscated ALL my cash, even the ones I earned for real.”

The Mom Bucks program was supposed to teach the boys to work hard for the things they want, and instead, Greg and Rodrick got caught up in lying, stealing, and dirty dealings to get the things they wanted. Greg blames Rodrick for trying to cash in all of his Mom Bucks at once, but if Greg had simply written his essay, the Mom Bucks program might have stayed up and running long enough for Greg to reap the benefits of his hard work.

“Rodrick tried to deny that he had a party. But everything was right there in the picture, so there really wasn’t any point.”

When Mr. Heffley discovers the photo from Rodrick’s party on the camera roll, the truth finally comes out. Kinney uses this situation to warn the reader that lies have a way of coming back around; although Greg and Rodrick thought they were finally in the clear, the other shoe dropped when they least expected it.

“[T]he night before the Science Fair, Rodrick didn’t have anything to show for himself. So me, Mom, and Dad had to bail Rodrick out.”

Greg recalls how last year, Rodrick failed to complete his Science Fair project, and the whole family got involved and helped create the project. Kinney uses this detail to show that the Heffleys might be a family that fights a lot, but they still look out for each other and cover for one another.

“I got that idea from Rodrick. He used to pull the same kind of thing on me when HE did something bad and he knew I was gonna tell on HIM.”

When Greg thinks Manny will tattle on him for breaking Rowley’s toe, he threatens to run away from home. Greg thinks Manny will react the same way Greg reacted when Rodrick did this to him as a child: He thinks Manny will burst into tears and promise not to tattle. Instead, Manny eats Greg’s candy as soon as Greg “leaves,” and the next morning, Greg discovers that Manny tattled on him. Greg is still learning that Rodrick’s manipulation tactics don’t work on Manny the same way they worked on Greg.

“Rodrick told Dad he doesn’t CARE about school anymore. He said his plan is to win the talent show and use the tape of the performance to get signed to a record label. Then he’ll quit school and just do the band full-time.”

Although Rodrick has demonstrated his apathy for school throughout the novel, he reveals his bigger dreams and ambitions when his father urges him to give up the Talent Show and focus on his schoolwork. Rodrick explains that he wants to be a musician full-time, and he sees school as just an obstacle in the way of his greater purpose. Although Rodrick seems apathetic most of the time, he cares about his band and their future.

The school actually did a decent job of taping the performance, and things were looking pretty good up until Rodrick’s drum solo. That’s when Mom started dancing. And whoever was doing the filming zoomed right in on Mom, and kept the camera pointed at her for the rest of the song.”

When the night of the big Talent Show finally arrives, Rodrick and his band are ecstatic to see what happens. However, the Talent Show yields one disappointment after another for the musicians. Rodrick is overcome with rage and lashes out at Greg, which triggers the final events of the book.

“Now that my secret’s out there, I want to put on record what REALLY happened, and not Rodrick’s twisted version.”

Kinney’s promise to reveal Greg’s secret finally comes to fruition. Greg’s mom assures him that no one will care about his mistake, but Greg believes that the kids at his school will never let him hear the end of this.

“[B]y the time word spread around, all the details got totally messed up. So the story went from me accidentally walking into the women’s bathroom at Leisure Towers to me infiltrating the girls’ locker room at Crossland HIGH SCHOOL.”

By revealing Greg’s “true account” of what happened, Kinney creates an ironic comparison when Greg arrives at school and hears the rumor mill version of Rodrick’s story. Rodrick wanted to ruin Greg’s reputation, but Kinney adds to the irony of the situation by allowing Greg to become popular over something he thought would ruin his reputation.