The Half of It analysis

Paul

I don't know how much is gonna in this chapter and how much is going to be in Ellie's, and there will probably be a lot of overlap so feel free to skim read any repetitions.

I'm gonna start this chapter off by saying that I think Paul is a nice, sweet guy. He is clearly different from the other football players at his high school. The way he treats both Aster and Ellie and well as Ellie's dad is unlike how everyone else in the town treats them.

Relationship with Aster
How much Paul has influence over/ knows about what Ellie writes in the letters in unknown, but is probably quite low so I won't be referring to any of them directly, just what we see Paul sees. 

It's not much, but when Paul hears Aster singing in the band scene he stops running to hear her sing, when he's supposed to be training for football. He has the same kind of fixation with Aster's voice that blocks out all other voices, like we see Ellie has. This is a nice way of showing that Paul has the same feeling for Aster that Ellie does.

When he writes the letter to Aster he does it because "[he] thought it would seem romantic." He doesn't just do what anyone else would have done by just asking her out either in person or via text. He also consults Ellie for help with the letter. He doesn't do this because he thinks Aster's hot and would be a good shag, but because he has genuine feelings for her and sees that she's different from everyone else and deserves to be treated as such. He wants to be different from the other guys but he's shit with words so he asks for help. He's feels that he isn't currently good enough to write to Aster properly showing how much he cares. "I only need a few words. Good ones.", all he wanted from Ellie was a starting off point with Aster. That's all he wanted from her.

In Paul's first attempt to write a letter to Aster, it's clear that he's trying very hard to be genuine and not like other guys. The letter itself is shit, but you can see the effort put into it behind the jock talk. It's clear that he wants to properly communicate with her as an actual person, but he just doesn't have the language for it.  After Ellie reads the letter his face becomes serious, sad. I've read online that some people think that Paul is dyslexic or has some kind of other similar learning disorder, which I agree on. I get this from the fact that it looks like he wants to do more than he has, but there's a block of some kind, which is something a lot of people with learning difficulties (myself included) can relate to.

It's small, but in the confession booth when Ellie is reading Aster's second letter back, Paul is about to text Aster, only initially thinking that he would give Aster one letter and they'd start dating from there. But when Ellie warns him that texting Aster will make her think he's like everyone else he immediately stops. He doesn't want her to think that he's like everyone else because he's not. He'll treat Aster differently and he wants her to know that he sees her beyond being the hottest girl in school.  

I think it's important to talk about the fact that Paul is a smart person and can kinda see that he isn't spending time with Aster or getting to know her. He's vocal when he realises that things aren't fair. He sort of fights for Aster in that way. It shows how much he cares about her to not let Ellie just take over the whole situation. To prove this he makes the bold move and asks Aster out on a date. Despite the fact that he knows he might not be ready, he does it anyway. He makes the bold stroke.

In the first date scene Paul initially thinks that it will be a normal first date. Despite knowing that Aster is different from the other girls, his expectations of what would happen and how Aster would be behaving was as if she were any other girl. In his defence, he wasn't taught any differently, and in a town like Squahamish it's to be expected. However, when the camera cuts to Paul being at the table with Aster, with her sliding over 'Remains of the day', it's clear that he's a fish out of water. It's obvious that, despite Ellie's coaching, he has no idea what Aster's talking about and what he's supposed to say. He was expecting it to just be a normal date, but quickly realises that Aster really is different from other girls. I don't at all think that any of this is his fault (to an extent anyway). Apart from one text he hasn't had any direct communication with Aster. He only has what Ellie has told him and what he can gauge from looking at Aster from a distance.