The Whirligig by Paul Fleischman is a novel in which the main character, Brent, takes us with him on his journey through America after he kills a girl while drunk driving; after a party one night, Brent lets his anger get the best of him and he goes on a driving rampage. This leads him on a journey to the 4 corners of America to place Whirligigs built by him in honour of the girl, Lea, as requested by her mother. Brent embarks on his trip, trying to help himself as well as right his wrongs with Lea and her family.
“Ones’ actions may impact others’ lives greatly, even without the intention of doing so.” This theme statement demonstrates one of the main themes of the book; the idea of interconnectedness.  Only one action is needed from a certain person to connect others in ways they might not even know of.  As demonstrated in the novel, Lea’s death was a result of a series of ongoing actions before; Brent going to the party resulted in Brianna yelling at him, causing his temper-filled drive, which caused the crash. If it weren’t for Brianna, it’s very possible that the crash wouldn’t have happened, which shows that Brianna and Lea are somehow connected without ever even have met before. On another scale, Brent, Lea, and Steph, for example, are also connected; on page 32 of the novel, Steph says “I haven’t become a mush-headed dreamer. But just in case unseen forces do exist, I pay my respects to them by keeping the whirligig painted and repaired.” Here she is talking about the whirligig built in honour of Lea by Brent, which impacted Steph’s future life. This shows us a direct example of interconnectedness between these characters, therefore the book and theme statement can be used to answer the inquiry question, “How does the influence of others impact our own lives?” They show us how people have been influenced both negatively and positively all across the country throughout Brent’s actions, whirligigs, and journey, and how none of the characters intended to cause the events that happened with the help of their doings.