The Deep End

One of the main middle-grade messages of the novel is the theme of managing expectations, which shapes the emotional arc of the story. Every member of the Heffley family seems to have trouble managing their expectations of what is to come, but Greg and his mother seem especially prone to this character flaw. Before and during the vacation, Greg has visions of how things are going to be, and they never turn out the way he imagines. He pictures parasailing over the mountains with his family at the adventure park, but it turns out to be an overcrowded tourist destination filled with rowdy, inconsiderate people. Greg also envisions doing all sorts of activities that his mother simply won’t agree to because of Manny. He is thus left constantly disappointed. Part of Greg’s high expectations are the result of his strong imagination, and part of it is due to his naivety as a youth. He hears the name “Campers’ Eden” and assumes it must be a paradise; the picture on the sign confirms this. Greg handles his disappointment well despite all of this, and he always seems to bounce back quickly. When the family arrives, it is once again an overcrowded and underregulated disaster.