40 pages • 1 hour read
Way of the Warrior Kid
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Themes
Confidence and Humility as Mutually Reinforcing
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying.
As a work largely about self-improvement, Way of the Warrior Kid is interested in both confidence and humility: One must have the latter to recognize the need for self-improvement, but one must also have the former to believe that such improvement is possible. Rather than being opposing qualities, confidence and humility therefore emerge as intertwined—a point that the novel illustrates largely through the juxtaposition of its two main characters.
At the start of the book, Marc has an extremely low opinion of himself. He refers to himself as “dumb” and “a wimp” because he has troubles at school and is less capable at athletics than many of his peers. Jake, by contrast, is flush with self-confidence, regaling the family with stories of “parachuting, scuba diving, rappelling out of helicopters, and blowing things up with explosives—all the time!” (21). At their first meeting in the book, Jake teases Marc for his firm handshake and is dismayed to hear Marc disparaging his abilities in sports and swimming.
It therefore might seem as though Jake is confident and Marc is humble, but as their training begins, the picture becomes slightly more complicated. Jake is indeed confident, but this simply means that he knows what he is good at and what he isn’t (even if the novel does not depict these flaws). Jake in this sense demonstrates humility, admitting his limitations, such as not doing well in school. Humility is valuable, he explains, because there is always room for improvement: “[N]o matter what you are doing in life, you can’t take your eyes off the long-term goal […] You can assess. You can try to figure out some lessons learned from what you did right and what you did wrong” (91). Humility is the recognition that there is always more to do and to learn and that mistakes are still possible, but this does preclude confidence that one can improve—in fact, it implies it.
Marc’s character arc illustrates this point. His initial self-effacement is not humility because rather than admit that he has things he needs to work on, like pull-ups or multiplication tables, he falls back on broad statements, claiming he’s simply unintelligent or weak. This denies the possibility of improvement, which prevents him from learning things about himself that might be useful to both himself and others—e.g., that he has the ability to stand up to Kenny Williamson and free up the jungle gym for his classmates. Jake’s regimen therefore aims to instill not only confidence in Marc but also the “right” kind of humility. Its success is evident in Marc’s ultimate confrontation with Kenny, when he is both confident enough to stand up to Kenny Williamson and humble enough to show him kindness afterward; as far as he has come, Marc does not fall into the trap of believing himself to be perfect, or even better than Kenny.
The Warrior Code as a Model for Excellence
Before Marc can become a warrior, he has to know what a warrior really is. It is not simply someone who engages in combat, although that is the origin of the term and Jake tells him that “war is the ultimate test” for a warrior (30). Jake’s role as a Navy SEAL is not incidental; his combat experiences often inform his lessons, and all the warrior codes that Jake has Marc read come from actual military cultures or organizations. Still, Jake makes it clear that one does not have to engage in combat to be a warrior, defining this as an ideal with applications in civilian life. More specifically, the various codes Jake shows Marc emphasize that a warrior must strive for excellence. There are practical reasons for this, Jake emphasizes—war is among the most difficult things that a person can endure, with many challenges and high stakes—but the idea of excellence is also a broad one, varying according to culture and era. This flexibility allows it to transfer to non-military settings as well, the novel argues.
In fact, the novel suggests that even “excellence” in combat encompasses more than civilians might imagine. It entails the physical strength to overpower an enemy but also the mental acuity to “OUTSMART the enemy” (59). Qualities like courage, perseverance, loyalty, and preparedness, all have clear applications in wartime, but they are also transferable to a range of other settings; Marc, for instance, must show perseverance in studying times tables and preparedness for a quiz or test. Other qualities are still less obviously related to combat. The code of Bushido from feudal Japan calls for “honesty and sincerity” (47), and the Viking Laws advise, “[D]o not promise what you can’t keep” (42), and “[K]eep things tidy and organized” (42). Such codes provide general guidelines on ethical/adaptive behavior in any setting. Even outside the context of war, the novel suggests, qualities like integrity and organization can help a person lead a better life by bringing out the best in themselves and therefore inspiring others to do the same.
More than adhering to any particular code, however, the novel stresses the importance of simply having a code. What that looks like will vary from one individual to the next. When Marc drafts his own, for example, he commits to “train[ing] to know how to fight so he can stand up to bullies and to protect the weak” (179)—a pledge that draws on his own experience of being bullied while echoing elements of some of the codes Jake showed him (e.g., the chivalric ideal). Readers’ codes need not be the same, however, as long as they entail a commitment to continuous self-improvement.
Discipline Equals Freedom
When, at one point in the program, Marc believes that his work has earned him some much-needed time off, he draws a harsh response from the normally kind Jake, who has Marc adopt the motto “Discipline Equals Freedom.” This proposition might seem paradoxical because to adopt a disciplined lifestyle is in one sense very contrary to freedom: Marc is not free to eat what he wants, spend his time as he will, or sleep in late should he desire to do so. However, Jake (and the novel) argues that this kind of “freedom” is illusory. By reaching one’s full potential (or at least approaching it), one gains abilities that expand one’s choices, but reaching that potential is only possible through structure and hard work.
As with the novel’s broader promotion of a “Warrior Code,” Jake argues that this lesson applies to all kinds of non-military scenarios:
[I]f you want freedom from being bullied at school by Kenny, you have to have the discipline to go to jiu-jitsu class and learn the skills to defeat him. If you want freedom from ridicule when you do pull-ups at school, you have to have the discipline to train so that you can do pull-ups. If you want the freedom to swim in the water and enjoy your school trip, you need the discipline to overcome your fear of the water and learn how to swim. What about school? Do you want to be free of being stumped on tests and not knowing the answer to questions in class? Then you need the discipline to study and learn the material they teach you (82-83).
Jake’s argument hinges partly on the distinction between “freedom to” and “freedom from.” Marc may be free to make certain choices as things stand, but some of those choices do nothing to address the various forces that currently constrain him—e.g., he is not free from anxiety about his schoolwork. Other examples, however, suggest that practicing discipline can enhance all forms of freedom. For instance, Jake claims that a person who budgets their money will not only be free from financial worries but free to do more (with the wealth they eventually acquire) than they could have if they spent their money as they earned it.
Marc’s experiences regularly demonstrate the value of Jake’s principle. He endures takedown after takedown in jiujitsu, which is both physically and emotionally painful, but he keeps getting up and takes every setback as an opportunity to learn. He faces his fear of the water and endures a grueling pull-up workout, pushing through callused hands. Most importantly, when Jake leaves, he learns that he is capable of acting without Jake motivating him. Marc is not fully disciplined so long as Jake is there to present new tasks, make sure he accomplishes them, and talk him through a moment of doubt or hesitation. Although much of the narrative action hinges on the kind of externally imposed discipline common in the military, it therefore ultimately advocates for something more like self-control, in keeping with its emphasis on an internalized “Warrior Code.”
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