Alienation- Jude Griebel

This painting depicts a match getting up and alienating itself from the other matches. This painting is much like Tom Henderson who alienates himself from others for many different reasons. Tom is seen to be an outcast and a loser in school. This is a large factor as to why Tom alienates himself. Tom does this a form of self-protection. Tom alienates himself from others around him in effort to not get bullied and so that others cannot annoy/bother him. This characteristic of Tom gives him more time because he does not have a social life. With having more time, he uses it to solve the mystery behind the death of his father. This characteristic of Tom is much like Holden Caulfield, the main character in “The Catcher in the Rye”. This painting shows how both Tom Henderson and Holden Caulfield alienate themselves from others as a form of self-protection.

Father and Son- John Dunne

The picture above shows a father and his son using their hands and feet to make a heart. This photo is supposed to represent the bond and love shared between father and son. Tom Henderson lacks this bond with his father because of his mysterious death. The main conflict in the novel is Tom’s quest to find out more about his father’s death and more about his past. Tom does this in effort to make a connection with his deceased father. Throughout the whole novel Tom is in constant search for clues to try to fulfill this bond with his father and fill that empty piece inside of him. Tom’s behaviour throughout the novel towards his father is much like Amir from “The Kite Runner”. Amir is constantly trying to impress his father in order to grow the bond between father and son. This is much like Tom’s effort to find out more about his father in order to grow the bond between father and son. This picture helps represent the effort to enhance relationships between father and son in both Tom and Amir’s case.

Girls, Girls, Girls- Christine Chase Cooper

The painting above shows a man and a woman arguing/fighting. This is much like the struggle that Tom possesses with women. Within the novel, we see that Tom is extremely sexist and think girls are not good for anything besides sex. This is the first clue about Tom’s cynical view towards women. Throughout the novel, Tom is in a constant struggle with girls. He is either being laughed at or bullied by them, or he is thinking and saying bad things about them. This painting is an accurate representation of Tom’s relationship with women because he is in a constant fight with them, though it may be indirect. Once again, Tom shares another characteristic with Holden Caulfield, their view on women. Both guys have issues with women. They mostly irritate Tom, while Holden is constantly making things worse on himself by saying and doing things that derive girls from his direction. This shows that the two boys are both fed up with women and are in a constant battle with them. This painting accurately shows the fight that both Tom and Holden share with women.

The Hierarchy- Honoré Daumier

This painting depicts a cart filled with people from the upper and lower class. In relation to “King Dork”, this painting represents the hierarchy of social class in high school. The painting shows men wearing top hats, this means they are from the upper class, and it also shows two women and a young boy, these are the people form the lower class. The young boy in the lower class side of the cart represents Tom Henderson. In the hierarchy at Hillmont High, he is considered to be a loser, hence “lower class”. The painting has light shining on everyone but the young boy. This shows that the boy is being forgotten and how he is an outcast. Like the boy, Tom is an outcast at his school and is constantly alienating himself, which leads to him being forgotten and not cared about by others. This painting can also relate to “Great Expectations”. Pip, a boy from the lower class is being forgotten while in effort to become a member of the upper class by trying to mix in with them. Tom and Pip can be compared in the sense that, they both started out on the bottom and were part of a lower class. This painting represents the hierarchy in high school as well as the connection between Tom and Pip being members of a lower class.

The Rye Field- Miro Staric

The painting above shows a Rye field. The rye field is one of, if not the most significant part of the novel. In “King Dork”, Tom is faced with the challenge to discover more about his father and his mysterious death. Tom does this with the help of his deceased father’s copy of “The Catcher in the Rye”. The book contains many different encrypted codes that Tom is forced to solve in order to puzzle together the reasoning for his father’s death. The painting of the rye field is a representation of Tom’s deceased father’s copy of catcher in the rye. Therefore the painting represents the single piece that helps connect Tom and his father closer together. With the help of the codes in the novel, Tom is able to figure out more about his father’s death and discover part of himself that he did not know. The painting also bring the characters of Tom and Holden Caulfield together. They are very much alike in many ways, they both have shared a significant death in the family and they both alienate themselves from the outside world. This painting represents the similarities between Holden and Tom, as well as help Tom discover and connect with his deceased father.

Music and Bands- Ken Meyer Jr.

As we know, Tom Henderson is wild about music, especially Rock. Throughout the novel, Tom expresses himself through the music of others, himself, and the constant change of band names. In the portrait above, arguably the greatest guitarist of all time is depicted, Jimi Hendrix. The painting shows Jimi rocking out to his music and his guitar, and it seems as though he is in his own world. This painting relates to Tom because, music takes him into a world of his own. When Tom is hit by the sound of music, whether it is the famous groups or himself and Sam, he is mesmerized and this makes him happy. This painting also relates to the theme of alienation. Tom alienates himself from others and in effort to do this; he is attached with music to keep him away from others. This relates back to the painting in the sense that, when music comes into play Tom much like Jimi Hendrix enter their own world.