At Genghis Khan High School, "The big thing for most of the kids is getting into various kinds of trouble outside of school." It is an unpleasant place where teachers have stopped trying to teach, where anti-Semitism is openly preached, and where Walter Galt feels utterly alone. He clearly expresses his loneliness and alienation: "I'm about the shortest kid in school. Also the fattest. People refer to me as No Neck.

It's my nickname. I don't care for it. I happen to look like a penguin. Is that so bad?" Then Snarkout master Winston Bongo makes a grand entrance into Walter's classroom, falling down and scattering his belongings over the floor. "The poor kid is retarded," Walter thinks, "I'll be nice to him." Meanwhile, Winston sees Walter and thinks, "The poor kid is retarded . . .

I'll be nice to him."

Winston "was sort of heavy...