Benjamin Nushmutt

— Narration in "Mark Miller"

* Heitz
* McCauley
* Schick

**Benjamin Nushmutt** (aka Mark Miller) is a character in the *Wayside School* books. He does not appear in the cartoon. He is one of the many students in Mrs. Jewls's class. He is introduced as a new kid in *Wayside School Is Falling Down*, where everyone believes that he is named Mark Miller, and not Benjamin Nushmutt.

## Appearance

Benjamin is described in the chapter "The Substitute" as a handsome boy with a red shirt. He must have a good eye a from “Science” However, aside from this, Benjamin's appearance is rarely described in the books.

## Personality

Benjamin is shown to be a somewhat shy and pessimistic student. In his introduction in "Mark Miller," he dislikes being presented at the front of the room as the "new kid," because he feels like it emphasizes him as being strange, compared to the rest of the class. He remains quiet when greeted by other students in "Mark Miller" and "The Substitute," and in the former, he decides not to go to recess because he knows he doesn't have many friends at Wayside School. When he hears the building shaking in "Mark Miller," he worries that it's an earthquake, and fears that he is going to die as "the weirdo." Benjamin appears to just want to fit in, as in "The Lost Ear," he appears to be surprised when none of his classmates find him strange for using the wrong name. Benjamin is timid, as he has to work up the confidence to tell his actual name to others. As is seen in "Mark Miller" and "Glum and Blah," Benjamin sometimes struggles with saying his own name.

Benjamin is revealed to be surprisingly talented in "Music," where it's revealed that he gets good grades, is frequently picked for sports teams, and is admired by some of the other girls in his class. However, he attributes all of these traits to "Mark Miller," the false name everyone else refers to him by, rather than himself. He additionally is seen treating "Mark Miller" as a separate person in "Mark Miller," where he assumes he would have a lot of friends, and questions if the other students in his class would like Benjamin that much too.

## Relationships

### Bebe Gunn

Bebe Gunn is one of the first students to befriend Benjamin, welcoming him to the class in "Mark Miller," and worrying when he doesn't show up later on. Bebe excitedly explains the situation to Benjamin in "The Substitute," and in "The Lost Ear," assures to him that he isn't weird for being referred to by the wrong name for an entire year. In "A Light Bulb, a Pencil Sharpener, a Coffeepot, and a Sack of Potatoes," Benjamin lends Bebe her chair when she needs to reach the light bulb at the ceiling.

### Sue

As the two "new kids" in Mrs. Jewls's class, Benjamin has been seen paired with Sue on a few instances, as they agree on the same height for the school's flagpole in "The New Flagpole," and they work together in a relay race in "Game Day." Whether the two are friends, however, is still mostly unknown.

## Appearances

For a list of every chapter Benjamin is seen in, see here.

## Trivia

* He is not in the cartoon, alongside Allison, Calvin, D.J., Dameon, Deedee, Jason, Kathy, Mac, Paul, Ron, Terrence, and Sue.
* There is a student on the nineteenth story named Mark Miller that everyone believed to be named Benjamin Nushmutt. This is a reflection of Benjamin's conundrum in *Wayside School Is Falling Down*. When Miss Zarves's class learns his actual name, he is allowed to leave the nineteenth story, and asked to take a bag containing a severed ear to the hospital.
* Of the twenty-eight main students in Mrs. Jewls's class, Benjamin appears the least often, appearing in a total of 22 chapters, behind the three Erics, who are tied at 27 appearances. That being said, he is at a disadvantage, as he was not introduced until *Wayside School Is Falling Down*.

### Other designs

Peter Allen design (British edition, 2004)Unknown illustrator (Traditional Chinese edition, 2008)Satoshi Kitamura design (Japanese edition, 2010)Aleksei Bitskoff design (British edition, 2021)Ramona Bruno design (Italian edition, 2021)