Mistakes Were Made

Timmy’s mom is an important figure in his life and the center of much of Timmy’s stress. The drawings of her illustrate this tension: Her face is not shown until the end of the story, and until then, the illustrations only show silhouettes or portions of her, like her hands or her hair. She is a loving and supportive mother, but she is often tired and anxious about the difference between her paychecks and her bills. Timmy tells his mother that he will one day be able to afford to pay her bills, and the affection she responds with, kissing and tickling him, shows that even though she is anxious, she still appreciates Timmy’s unique perspective. She also reads to Timmy every night, usually stories that Timmy wrote and illustrated himself, showing her support for his creativity and imagination.

Timmy’s mom works at a stationery store and doesn’t get as many hours as she used to, and her one escape is to ride her Segway around the block. Overall, she is patient with Timmy’s antics; however, her patience runs out on the day of the play, which happens to coincide with the news that Timmy will have to repeat a grade. While Timmy’s mother was always supportive of his agency and his imagination, she becomes stricter just long enough to help steer Timmy back in the right direction. After a period without Total and focusing on school, Timmy’s grades start to improve, and he and his mother are able to compromise about his pretend games. The unbreakable bond between mother and son is demonstrated through Timmy’s mother’s unconditional acceptance of who her son is and her ability to forgive his many mistakes.

Total is Timmy’s imaginary polar bear, though the fact that he is imaginary is not made fully evident until later in the story. Total is said to have wandered south from the Arctic in search of food and found himself in Timmy’s kitchen. Timmy adopted him, and now they are both close friends and business partners. Timmy loves having Total on board but also considers him an obstacle to success who is “lucky to be employed” (65), since Total tends to eat garbage and destroy things rather than do any sort of detective work. Total sits outside the fence and watches Timmy play at recess, and his favorite foods are chicken nuggets and Rice Krispies squares.

Total is a manifestation of Timmy’s imagination and features prominently in both the text and illustrations of the book. Timmy considers Total to be his closest ally, and they are always “two against the world” (189). When Crispin Flavius points out that Timmy’s games are “pretend,” including Total, Timmy can’t handle hearing this and bolts from the car. The thought of letting him go is extremely difficult and feels wrong to Timmy. Total is a symbol of Timmy’s childhood imagination and reluctance to grow up. When Timmy’s mistakes start to pile up, Timmy’s mom draws the line, and he has to say goodbye to Total for a while. However, soon, Timmy learns to create a balance by Being Oneself While Being Open to Improving, and Total is welcomed back into his life—part of finding that balance is allowing the space for his imagination, and his imaginary friend, to exist alongside the real world.

Rollo Tookus is Timmy’s best friend, though Timmy doesn’t treat his best friend very well. Rollo’s actual first name is Charles, but he has acquired this nickname due to his weight, which Timmy never hesitates to point out. Timmy also calls Rollo an “idiot” because Rollo is most interested in studying and getting grades high enough to one day go to Stanford. Timmy finds this all a massive waste of time and doesn’t see the point in studying or caring about his education. Timmy also employs Rollo for all sorts of undesirable tasks, often threatening to ruin Rollo’s grades if he doesn’t comply. He has Rollo dress up like a sunflower to stake out the bank, and Rollo ends up locked in a safe overnight. Timmy also despises the fact that Rollo’s tutor is his own worst enemy, Corrina Corrina. He considers this a betrayal of their friendship and tells Rollo this often.

In truth, Rollo is often the one who makes the correct deduction in Timmy’s mysteries. He is a steadfast, loyal friend despite Timmy’s condescending and sometimes hurtful treatment. His constancy allows Timmy the space to grow and change, playing a large part in Timmy’s character arc. After Timmy has made many mistakes and ruined Rollo’s GPA, he finally starts to see the flaws in his ways and apologizes to Rollo. Rollo is ever-forgiving and always willing to give Timmy another chance. He does occasionally try to help Timmy and point out his mistakes, like when he explains that Molly has a crush on Timmy, but Timmy never listens to Rollo’s keen advice.

Corrina Corrina is Timmy’s nemesis, although this dynamic is one-sided because Corrina Corrina hardly knows who Timmy is. Timmy introduces Corrina Corrina with an illustration of a black square over her face that emphasizes how much he dislikes her and wishes she would vanish. Corrina Corrina is in Timmy’s group at school, and he sees her as smarter than he is. It is clear that Timmy is jealous of Corrina Corrina and intimidated by her, and he compensates for this by regularly trying to convince his reader that he is, in fact, the better detective: “I am inferior to no one” (154). Corrina Corrina outwits Timmy professionally at many points; she has a fancy detective office in a bank that her father owns, complete with large columns out front, like the ones that Timmy desires. She also intercepts Timmy’s client at one point, though she apparently does so without realizing it.

Corrina Corrina acts as a foil for Timmy in the narrative. She and Timmy have a lot in common; they both like detective work and polar bears. Additionally, both Corrina Corrina and Timmy have single parents. Corrina Corrina lives with her father and often misses him when he works too much. However, she serves as one of the people whom Timmy blames for his own actions and repercussions, and he remains convinced that Corrina Corrina is an enemy and an antagonist. Ironically, when Timmy gets a chance to read through Corrina Corrina’s diary at one point, he finds an entry that reads, “The weird kid in our group makes us all fail the test” (175). It heavily implies that Corrina Corrina doesn’t even know Timmy’s name, let alone have plans to sabotage his business or steal his Segway.

Molly Moskins is Timmy’s classmate and the girl who happens to have a serious crush on him. Timmy finds Molly odd because she smells like tangerines, has mismatched pupils, and behaves in unusual ways. For example, she shows up at Timmy’s apartment in the middle of the night and breaks his window with a dirt clod. She grabs Timmy during the play and refuses to let go. She also makes up stories about her shoes getting stolen repeatedly, which leads Timmy to assume she must be some sort of “international shoe thief” (119). Molly serves as another example of how badly Timmy can misinterpret things; he doesn’t understand that her actions, while sometimes inappropriate, are fueled by her crush. Instead, he comes to believe that she is a master criminal, responsible for many of the crimes he is trying to solve. With Timmy’s relationship with Molly, Stephan Pastis highlights the narrowness of Timmy’s perspective again.