Rodrick Rules

Greg’s mom is so desperate to help Greg and Rodrick bond as brothers that she forces Magick and Monsters on them as a vehicle for them to bond. While Rodrick is completely disinterested, Greg’s budding love for Magick and Monsters comes to an abrupt stop when his mom inserts herself and tries to force the boys to bond. The drumming lesson is yet another thinly-veiled attempt to bring her boys together once again, but it doesn’t quite work out. Mrs. Heffley attempted to pull Rodrick into something Greg enjoyed with Magick and Monsters, and now she is trying to pull Greg into something Rodrick enjoys with the drumming lessons. Neither attempt works, and the boys feel awkward about sharing their hobbies with each other. Instead, they self-sabotage and are highly critical of each other’s performance, illustrating their Sibling Relationships and Family Roles. Rodrick in particular is determined to maintain a degree of separation between himself and Greg, and he refuses to include his little brother in his interests in an effort to maintain his own reputation, much like Greg attempts to do in his friendship with Rowley.

Although Kinney has shown that Greg is comfortable with lying and misleading people, the situation with his history paper reveals that there are limits to Greg’s tolerance for Dishonesty and Telling the Truth. Although Greg never hesitates to copy his classmates’ quizzes, he hesitates to go so far as to purchase an essay he didn’t write. Greg even tries to write the essay himself, but when the power goes out in his house, he finally breaks down and agrees to buy the essay. Greg feels uneasy about the situation, and when he realizes that the essay Rodrick gave him earned an F, Greg realizes that he stretched his luck too far, communicating the results of his deception and dishonest tactics.

The Mom Bucks program, which was meant to instill a sense of responsibility, hard work, and ownership in the Heffley boys, proves to be a failure. Greg’s mom spends months trying to get the boys to get with the program, but Greg writes that Rodrick never earned a single Mom Buck on his own and appeared completely disinterested in the opportunity to earn cash. This doesn’t stop Rodrick from asking for money, and when Greg steals all of the Mom Bucks play money from Rowley’s house and tries to game the system, Mrs. Heffley finally gives up. Instead of rising to the challenge and earning incentives through honest work, Rodrick and Greg again emphasize their Sibling Relationships and Family Roles as Rodrick quickly becomes disinterested and Greg participates at first, but quickly devolves in his participation. Kinney demonstrates how the brothers utilize the Mom Bucks to further their Dishonesty. Although Mrs. Heffley is full of creative ideas to benefit her children’s lives, illustrating her own persistent Family Role, lack of engagement from her sons proves to be her downfall.