Atharv Dua Week #14: The Cheese Touch

Greg Heffley might not be Shakespeare (or—and I hate to break this to you—real for that matter) but the meticulousness with which he records his day-to-day life is genuinely impressive. We’d hear about his system to remember tasks (throwing a pillow in front of his door or putting a sock on the TV), about Rowley’s cast and Greg’s jealousy at not having to go through a broken arm, and much more. 

However, I think it was lost on many eleven year old brains including mine, that it is the way Greg recounts his life that is so funny, not his life itself. The rotten “cheese” was probably not as significant as he made it seem, but because so much of the first book and his social life was focused on the “cheese touch” we also believed it to be significant in the school life of all the other kids. Did we consider the perspective of other students though? Did we think about whether the same cheese that was so significant for a child entering middle school, trying to look cool with new hormones coursing through their veins, would be as significant for the older students that were potentially more mature? The cheese wasn’t as significant for everyone, just like memories don’t hold the same significance for everyone.

Ask a hundred people about the same objective event, you will get a hundred different answers. Going back to the Greg Heffley analogy, I still vividly remember how Greg basically convinced Rowley to go speeding down a hill in a cart and threw tennis balls at him which got Rowley a cast. Greg then proceeded to detail how it was all Rowley’s fault in the book! Objectively, it was definitely Greg’s fault, but because we were hearing it from Greg’s perspective, 11 year old brains could potentially side with Greg. The book was obviously intended for entertainment purposes, but it’s so clear that memories can be extremely subjective: Greg remembers things differently from Rowley who likely also remembers things differently than what actually happened. The same goes for our memories.

https://diary-of-a-wimpy-kid.fandom.com/wiki/Cheese_Touch




Comments

  1. Disha MurugupandiyanApril 7, 2026 at 10:53 PM

    I think you bring up a great idea: could a memory that means a lot to us personally mean practically nothing to someone else. As harsh as that sounds, take a birthday party for example. If I had a birthday party, I would remember every part of it extremely well, from the moments spent preparing for it and everyone arriving one by one, to the cake cutting and everyone singing “Happy Birthday” to you. It would mean everything to you, since you would be the “main character” of that party or technically the reason people were there to celebrate you. Yet, to everyone that attended the party, it’s just one of the many parties they attended that year. Just one of the multiple friends that they have. I think that it can be a reminder that a bad event that happened to you that seemed like the entire world was ending can be considered just another day for another person. You shouldn’t take everything too seriously, otherwise you’re going to overthink every situation. The way that you remember a certain situation may not be the same way others do, so it’s important to just live in the present and learn to get over certain situations. You also discuss how meticulously Greg writes in his diary, including every detail and even making it funny. I would love to have my life recorded in that way, so that I could look back on it and remember certain events way after they happened. Nostalgia is such a cool emotion, and although it can be a bit sad at moments, it’s still an amazing feeling.

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  2. Jaycee SnelsonApril 8, 2026 at 8:18 PM

    Hi Atharv! The connection to memories and how the same memory can be totally different depending on each person’s perspective was not where I saw the recalling of the cheese from Diary of a Wimpy Kid going but i love it! I agree it is always hard to remember that not everyone views things the same way. However, I think it is truly important that we do try to always remember because the more we try to see other people’s perspectives, even on memories, the more we will understand each other.
    I think your style of writing really elevated the message of memories being subjective really well. You have such a humorous tone in all of your blogs which made this topic lighter, where even an 11 year old (hahaha see what I did there) could read it and understand.
    A quick question before I end my comment. Have you finished all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books? And if not what book did you stop on? Anyways, I loved your blog and can’t wait to read your next one!

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