Chapters #1-2

1-      In chapter 1, when Mark and Bryon save M&M from Curly Sheppard’s gang and afterwards want to beat up on another innocent by-stander, M&M says:

“You make me sick!  You just rescued me from some guys who were going to beat me up because I’m different from them, and now you’re going to beat up someone because he’s different form you.  You think I’m weird – well, you’re the weird ones.”

· Discuss difference in Mark and Bryon’s world.  What does it mean and what does it cause? 

·      What does that event enable you to infer or predict about what will happen in the story? 

              In Mark and Bryon’s world, difference means danger. Unfortunately when you are different, you get beat up by some gangs. They have been raised in a certain way and to be different means they will get involuntarily into trouble. In the first chapter, M&M was confronted by a gang. This poor little boy was different and Curly Sheppard’s gang felt the need to beat him up. It doesn’t make any sense to me, why should we beat up somebody different than us? I predict than later on, in the book, somebody who seems different than the others will obviously be beaten up, even if he is innocent.

2-      In chapter 2, Mike’s story ends with the girl saying “kill the white bastard”.  Why do you think she said that?  Explain from the context.

            I think the girl said that to protect herself. She had cried earlier and we could still notice it. She probably did not want to explain to all her neighbourhood her story. It was easy for her to blame Mike, he was a white kid and he had given her a ride. She knew her story would make sense because it was suspicious that a guy, different than her, was kind and enough generous to take her back home safely.

3-      At the end of chapter 2, Mike says:

“I still don’t hate Negroes, least of all Connie.  I mean I can almost see why she did it. Almost.”

Mark later says about Mike:

“That is one stupid guy.  [… ] if anybody ever hurt me like that, I’d hate them for the rest of my life.”

What does that comment allow you to foreshadow about Mark?

          I think Mark will be confronted to a situation where maybe he will be the different guy that will be beaten up. He thinks Mike is stupid to forgive somebody that almost killed him. I believe that Mark doesn’t understand Mike’s position because he has never been in any circumstance similar. Bryon statement of the end of chapter two makes me predict that Mark will get beaten up by somebody and will never forgive his attackers. Maybe it will be a close friend or even Bryon that accidently will hurt him.