![]() He feels as though it is wrong that the bombing of Jeffery's family's village isn't on the news the night that it happens. In this passage, Charlie is considering the death of Jeffery's family members in Vietnam. Maybe the further away you are, the less you have to care, the less you're responsible. There's something clean about all that distance. But there's no evil mugshot, no bloody grove. "Strangely, of all the horrible things I've encountered and considered recently, dropping a bomb seems to be the least violent among them, even though it's clearly the worst. This is why he is so admiring of his best friend, as Jeffery is often brave in the face of neighborhood bullies who target him because of his race and nationality. For someone who, at this moment in the story, doesn't consider himself very brave, Charlie nevertheless knows what bravery looks like. The debate tells us a lot about what Charlie values in a person's character and illuminates one of the main themes of the novel. 56Ĭharlie says this during his debate with Jeffery on the merits of Superman versus Batman, but it takes on a larger life once Charlie has made this point, as it begins to frame how Charlie examines the courageous natures of those around him. "My point is this: the more you have to lose, the braver you are for standing up." Charlie, p. The "shard of knowing" not only forces Charlie to face his own inherent prejudice, but it signifies Charlie's realization that he will help Jasper through this situation no matter what. ![]() Charlie realizes the implications of who Jasper is, in particular his racial background, in relation to this crime, and realizes that Jasper is very much at risk. This causes Charlie to realize that he is as much a part of the problem as anyone else in Corrigan. When Jasper tells Charlie that the police will blame him for Laura's death, he reminds Charlie that his first reaction was to suspect Jasper as well. That cold moment of dismay where your feet are kicked from under you, where you're disarmed by a shard of knowing." Charlie, p. Or that nothing actually answers your prayers, or really even listens. Like when you first realize there is no such thing as magic. Towards the end of the novel, Charlie will find out just how misinformed he was compared to her. ![]() What he does not know, however, is just how much Eliza knows and how little he knows compared to her. This prompts Charlie to think that she knows something about her sister and about what happened to her. Despite being the same age as him, Eliza is much more mature and wise than Charlie, and behaves like a grown-up. 94Įliza is Laura’s little sister, a girl roughly the same age as Charlie. "Eliza Wishart knows something." Charlie, p. What the author wanted to highlight through this example was the fact that sometimes, humans are capable of truly horrific things, one of them being the capacity to ignoring something horrific entirely if they think that revealing the truth will not benefit them. Charlie thought about how those who knew about her and even her sister could go on about their day without doing anything and without acting in any way to stop it. What is truly horrifying about the case is that many people knew about Sylvia and about what was happening to her, but they chose to do nothing. While there, Charlie reads about the case of Sylvia Likens, a young girl who was raped, tortured and murdered by the family that was taking care of her. In the third chapter, Charlie goes to the local library where he reads about different crimes. "How was it that Gertrude Baniszewski could seduce so many children into committing these acts?" Charlie, p. Charlie seems to note a strong community-wide pressure to conform to a certain set of pre-approved behaviors. By doing this, they encourage their children to develop the same type of mentality as their parents and to manifest prejudice against a person they barely know and understand. When their children misbehave, the parents of Corrigan will often use Jasper as a negative example and tell their children that if they are disobedient, they will end up just like him. Jasper is seen as being a negative influence by the community, and as a result, many consider him a villain. "This is how you’ll end up if you’re disobedient.’’ Charlie, p.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |