This Boys Life: Chapter/Character/Theme Summaries Flashcards Preview

Unit 3/4 English > This Boys Life: Chapter/Character/Theme Summaries > Flashcards

Flashcards in This Boys Life: Chapter/Character/Theme Summaries Deck (43)
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1
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title Fortune?

A

. Toby and Rosemary are seeking good fortune at the moment because it appears that they haven’t been experiencing it recently “we were going to change our luck”.
. They are optimistic, even though they don’t have a home at the moment they are determined to change their lives “I was caught up in my mother’s freedom, her delight in her freedom, her dream of transformation”.
. Utah presented good opportunities to “get rich on uranium” so they decided that Utah was the place to go.
. On their way they witness a truck going over a cliff which foreshadows a fall for them too.
. This is indeed true as they are tracked down by the controlling and manipulative Roy (the man they originally fled from).
. By the end of the chapter Rosemary and Toby escape him with the still existent hope that they will find good fortune (success, wealth and happiness).

2
Q

What happens in Fortune (part 1)?

A

. Toby and his mother Rosemary are introduced
. A truck goes over a cliff whilst they were driving from Florida to Utah in their decrepit car (to get rich on uranium)
. Rosemary may want her old life back (Wolff mentions Rosemary’s past)
. When they get to Utah they’re told that they’re too late
. After having a girl in his class named Toby in Florida he wants to change his name to Jack (after Jack London)
. Rosemary allows this on the condition that he attends catechism classes
. Sister James did not like the idea of kids from catechism classes running free after school, so she arranged after school activities for everyone to join
. Toby decides to participate in archery, however him and the other boys take it too far by shooting at cats and then each other
. Sister James catches Toby misbehaving, which makes him feel immense guilt

3
Q

List the order of the chapters.

A
. Fortune
. Uncool
. A Whole New Deal
. Citizenship of the Home
. Citizenship of the School
. Amen Corner
. Amen
3
Q

What happens in Fortune (part 2)?

A

. Toby has a pen pall (Alice - from Phoenix)
. Roy tracked Toby and his mother down to Salt Lake
. Toby had to make a confession to prepare himself for communion (decided to use the examples Sister James told him)
. Roy follows Rosemary as she walks home from work (he is suspicious of what she does)
. Roy gives Toby a gun and Toby shoots it even though he’s not meant to (he feels powerful with it)
. He kills a squirrel and feels awful
. Roy asks if Toby wouldn’t mind a littler brother
. Rosemary and Toby leave Salt Lake

4
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title Uncool?

A

. Toby as well his new friends Terry Taylor and Terry Silver really wanted to be considered cool.
. They tried so hard to be noticed and even tried to look cool “We wore our hair long at the side, swept back into a ducktail”.
. They didn’t want to be seen as ‘uncool’ and were also quite envious of those who were considered cool, which is seen when they pelt a mans car with eggs, “He had everything that we didn’t have”.
. Although the boys tried hard they felt liked they have been claimed by un-coolness, “coolness claimed its own out of some mysterious impulse of recognition. Un-coolness did likewise. We had been claimed by un-coolness.”
. They then began trying to act ‘cool’ by becoming liars, thieves and damagers of property in an attempt to stop feeling “Colourless and mild”.

5
Q

What happens in Uncool (part 1)?

A

. Toby and his mother now live in a boardinghouse in West Seattle (we meet Marian and Kathy)
. We meet Toby’s new friends Silver and Taylor (they cause trouble together)
. We see innocence and immaturity when the boys watch The Mickey Mouse Club
. Toby’s acting differently with his new friends (eggs cars)
. Rosemary and Toby meet Gil and Judd at a mock naval battle at Alkai Point
. Rosemary goes on a date with Gil and comes home crying
. Marian, Kathy and Rosemary decide to rent a house together
. Kathy had her baby and we learn that Marian doesn’t trust Toby
. We learn more about Rosemary’s past
. Windows were broken, however Toby and his friends were not questioned (seen as “colourless and mild”)
. Marian and Kathy are now engaged so Marian starts presenting different suitors to Rosemary so she can become engaged
. Dwight seemed to be the “chief among the suitors”

6
Q

What happens in Uncool (part 2)?

A

. Rosemary and Toby go to Dwight’s home for Thanksgiving (meet Pearl, Skipper and Norma)
. Rosemary wins the turkey shoot competition (I think Dwight’s masculinity feels challenged)
. Toby scratches inappropriate words in the bathroom and school but says he didn’t do it (he gets away with it)
. Rosemary tells Toby that Dwight is urging a proposal, Toby gives his approval (but only because he feels obliged to)

7
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title A Whole New Deal?

A

. Although this chapter is short, the reader sees Dwight’s true self upfront.
. He no longer seems unsettling, he is now most definitely unsettling.
. He drives recklessly whilst intoxicated and questions Toby extensively.
. Dwight obviously doesn’t like Toby, he knows that Toby has impersonated and made fun of him, and knows that Toby manages to appear to innocent to Rosemary.
. Dwight then suggests that there are going to be changes for Toby whilst he stays in Chinook “you’re in for a change mister. You got that? You’re in got a whole nother ball game”.
. Toby prepares himself for what lies ahead “I braced myself for the next curve” which simultaneously shows Toby preparing for the next curve on the road and the next curve in his life.
. Like the previous chapters, there is a cruel irony to this title as the idea of a new deal sounds like a positive change, but it is in fact the complete opposite.

8
Q

What happens in A Whole New Deal?

A

. It was arranged that Toby spend some time after Christmas in Chinook with Dwight and his family and go to school there
. If things worked out Rosemary would quit her job and accept Dwight’s offer of marriage
. On the way to Chinook Dwight purposely hits a beaver, although he claims it was an accident
. Toby is asked to pick it up, but is unable to
. On the way to Chinook they stop at a tavern in a village called Marblemount
. Dwight brings Toby some food and goes back to the tavern, but he’s in there for quite a while
. When Dwight comes back they continue to drive to Chinook however he drives quite dangerously (Toby is scared)
. Dwight knows about the real Toby that lies
. Its clear that Dwight wants to set some ground rules for Toby whilst he’s in Chinook

9
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title Citizen in the Home?

A

. In this chapter we see Toby living with Dwight and his family, however its seen more as surviving in Toby’s case.
. Toby is not considered a citizen in this home, he is close to a slave.
. From the beginning Dwight gets Toby to do jobs such as husk horse chestnuts and deliver newspapers.
. Toby receives no reward in any form for his work, he doesn’t see the money from delivering newspapers and he doesn’t receive any acknowledgement from Dwight.
. In fact, acknowledgement of good work never came from Dwight, instead everything that was wrong with him was picked out, “he would stop at the tavern and drink for a couple of hours, then take me through turns and tell me some more things that were wrong with me”.
. Although living with Dwight was unpleasant, especially when the abuse started, Toby had always wanted a conventional family “unlike my mother, I was fiercely conventional”.
. Toby just wanted to be accepted in this family, he was constantly trying to earn himself citizenship in this home.

10
Q

What happens in Citizen in the Home (part 1)?

A

. Dwight makes Toby husk horse chestnuts
. He also has to deliver newspapers and Dwight puts the money into a bank account
. He is also forced to join boy scouts, but he likes it
. Rosemary gives Dwight a date for marriage in March and Dwight begins renovating (paints everything white)
. We meet Arthur Gayle, Toby gets into a fight with him
. Rosemary and Dwight’s relationship is rocky after honeymoon
. Skipper finishes his dream and goes to Mexico without Toby, but comes back with his car damaged by thick sand
. After a basketball game Toby sees Norma and Bobby’s true relationship

11
Q

What happens in Citizenship in the Home (part 2)?

A

. Rosemary joins the rifle club and recruits several other wives (Dwight’s masculinity feels challenged)
. Dwight is getting harder for Toby to tolerate (paints christmas tree white too)
. Toby finds a letter from his uncle Stephen (lives in Paris) and writes to him explaining their awful situation
. Uncle Stephen offers to have live and go to school in Paris for a year, then he offers for Toby to stay for 5 years and to be properly adopted by them. Toby ends up declining
. Norma meets Kenneth before christmas (she has graduated now) and accepts his offer of marriage even though he’s hated by her family (she also has a child with him)
. Toby plans on running away with the $80 he has slowly accumulated
. Toby’s winchester rifle is gone and now has a dog called champion
. Toby taught himself how to drive because Dwight refused to (he snuck out at midnight and took the car for a joyride)
. One time he gets the car stuck, but gets help, unfortunately Dwight finds out and abuses him
. Champion is killing kittens, so they are told to get rid of him, Dwight shoots Champion

12
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title Citizenship in the School?

A

. Chapters ‘Uncool’ and ‘Citizenship in the Home’ can have some relevance here because in this chapter Toby is simultaneously trying be accepted and wants to be considered cool too.
. In order to feel like he belonged he needed to have friends, so he became friends with Chuck, Psycho, Huff and Arch.
. His need to feel like a citizen in his school arises from the fact that he knows he will never belong in Dwight’s home.
. Toby also wants to have distinction, however, unlike his friend Arthur, Toby decides to be noticed and accepted in a bad way “I wanted distinction, and the respectable forms of it seemed to be eluding me.
. If i couldn’t have it as a citizen i would have it as an outlaw”.
. He also knows that this will help him be considered cool, which again arises from wanting to be liked and accepted.
. He knows its better to be with the crowd than to be alone.

13
Q

What happens in Citizenship in the School (part 1)?

A

. Toby wants distinction at high school and decides to go for the bad kind (We meet Chuck, Psycho, Huff and Arch - Toby’s new friends)
. Toby falls in love with Rhea Clark (just moved to concrete from North Carolina) - he dances with her but she “took up Lloyd Sly”
. The boys all get drunk and Toby begins balancing on a tree branch that hovers above a gully paved with cement (the branch snaps)
. Toby unexpectedly receives a letter from Geoffrey (haven’t seen each other in 6 years)
. Toby decides he will hitchhike to Princeton (where Geoffrey is attending school)
. He plans to steal and forge a bank check (gets a library card to use as identification - Thomas Findon)
. Toby finally chooses a store to try and cash in his check (a drugstore - with a naive-seeming clerk)
. The clerk is wiser than Jack thought
. He runs away and is chased by the clerk
. He changed into his Scouting uniform and goes to the Scout Society Banquet that night (where he sees the drugstore clerk)
. Initially, the clerk recognizes Toby, but she convinces herself that she must be mistaken (the uniform makes him look better than he is)

14
Q

What happens in Citizenship in the School (part 2)?

A

. Toby and Geoffrey continue to talk more
. When Dwight abuses Toby (mustard jar) he calls Geoffrey to tell him about it (exaggerates it too)
. Geoffrey suggests that Toby apply to eastern boarding schools so he can leave (Geoffrey assures him that he will easily be accepted into a private school after Toby lied to Geoffrey saying that he is a star athlete and an excellent student)
. Rosemary has been depressed (she has had to return to waiting tables at the cookhouse) and when she mentioned to someone that she wanted to leave Chinook Dwight got wind of this and pulled a knife to Rosemary (if she were to ever leave him, he would find and kill her)
. Toby does tests in Seattle (and observes the other boys)
. Arthur acquires official school stationary so Toby could provide false grades and teacher support letters.
. Toby and Arthur have drifted apart (more brutal treatment)
. Mr Mitchell (gym teacher) notices them mock wrestling near the school bus stop and insists that they fight one another in his annual “smoker”

15
Q

What happens in Citizen in the School (part 3)?

A

. Dwight is excited for Jack to fight Arthur and trains Toby for it
. When Toby punches Arthur in the face, he recognises a frightening connection to Dwight (Dwight is proud of Toby for fighting, whilst Rosemary is sickened and disappointed)
. Toby did well on his tests in Seattle, but soon got rejection letters from all the school he had applied to
. Then he gets a call from Mr Howard (from Hill) as the school found his application interesting and wanted someone to talk to him (Toby is warned that it might be difficult to adjust to Hill, but Toby says he is ready for the challenge)
. Toby cut off his finger (he had to be put on morphine)
. When Toby returns home he craves the numbness he felt with the morphine (he steals some of Dwight’s alcohol)
. Dwight notices his watered down whiskey and confronts Toby (he pushes Toby - Toby is disorientated and falls)
. The incident is the last straw for Rosemary (Toby is sent to live with Chuck Bolger’s family)

16
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title The Amen Corner?

A

Although Toby is now free of Dwight, the fact that this chapter is titled ‘amen corner’ suggests that there is still more to come before Toby can experience relief. This shown quite quickly as we see Toby finding himself in hot water after stealing from the Welch’s. He feels tremendous guilt “I had brought shame on myself”, but is overwhelmed and unable to apologise “I had not apologised. All i was able to say was that I couldn’t”. Additionally, Rosemary is still stuck with Dwight until she finds a job and new place to live. This means that whilst Toby is free, there are still concerns for his mother.

17
Q

What happens in The Amen Corner (part 1)?

A

. Chuck gets drunk every night (often violent with himself)
. Mr Bolger is a church minister (does not expect to be that religious, but does expect him to join the rest of the family in attending church)
. Toby wants to wander over the the amen corner (he is overcome by the liveliness of the gospel music)
. One night after getting drunk the boys decide to drive to Bellingham, but don’t have enough gas, so they decide to steal some from the Welch’s
. Mr Bolger finds this out in the morning and demands that Toby and Chuck return the gas and apologise (Toby us unable to apologise - completing the ritual)
. Toby knows it wont make up for what was done, it will simply put it behind them, it wont fix the welch’s poverty
. Mr Bolger arranges for Father Karl to talk to Toby
. He asks Toby what he wants in life, however Toby does not know

18
Q

What happens in Amen Corner (part 2)?

A

. The sheriff arrives at the Bolger’s house and says that Chuck is going to charged with statutory rape (Tina Flood)
. Chuck is given an ultimatum: If he marries Tina, he will not go to jail. (He adamantly refuses to marry Tina)
. Chuck claims that he is saving himself for someone he loves (he has dreams of a conventional family)
. Huff ends up agreeing to marry Tina instead
. Toby is awarded a scholarship to hill
. Mr Howard is delighted and gets him fitted for a new school wardrobe.
. Rosemary has also found a job in Seattle (she can escape Dwight)
. Toby’s father has arranged for him to take the bus down to LaJolla and spend the summer with him and Geoffrey.
. Pearl feels abandoned
. Toby steals Dwight’s guns, a pair of binoculars, a hunting knife, and a leather shotgun sheath.
. Toby eventually finds a pawnshop that will buy the items he stole from Dwight.

19
Q

What is the significance of the chapter title Amen?

A

The title emits a feeling of relief after everything Toby and his mother have gone through. They are both now finally free of Dwight and Toby has more clarity in his life. This is because Toby now no longer has the optimistic and false view of his father that he originally had. Not only that, this clarity is also due to Toby now knowing where he belongs, being in a uniform “I went into the army. I did so with a sense of relief and homecoming. It was good to find myself back in the clear life of uniforms and ranks and weapons”. The chapter title also suggests that their prayers have finally been answered. In Rosemary’s case - being free of Dwight, in Chuck’s case - being free of Tina Flood and in Toby’s case - finding a place he felt he belonged.

20
Q

What happens in Amen?

A

. Toby goes to California so he can spend the summer with his brother and dad
. His father ends up going on a holiday (to Las Vegas) with his girlfriend the day he arrives
. Toby’s father asks a friend to look after Jack (turns out to be a pedophile) who tries to make a move on Toby.
. When toby calls his father and tells him this, he is told to shoot the man if he returns. He doesn’t want to have to use it (awful experience).
. Only days after returning from Las Vegas in time for Geoffrey’s arrival home, Toby’s father is arrested and committed to a sanitarium (where he remains for the rest of the summer).
. As a result, Geoffrey has to work and support the family financially (meanwhile toby runs wild).
. During Christmas break, Toby has begun school at Hill
. Dwight finds Rosemary at her new home in Washington, D.C. and tries to strangle her in the lobby of their apartment building.
. This is the last time Toby will ever see Dwight.
. Toby is thrown out of Hill
. As an adult Toby remembers driving back to Chinook from Seattle

21
Q

Who are the main people seen in This Boys Life?

A
. Toby/Jack Wolff
. Rosemary Wolff
. Dwight
. Pearl, Norma and Skipper
. Geoffrey Wolff
. Arthur Gayle
. Arthur Wolff
. Chuck Bolger
22
Q

Who are the other people in This Boys Life?

A
. Daddy and Rosemary's mother
. Sister James
. Roy
. Marian 
. Kathy and her baby Willy
. Terry Taylor AKA Taylor and Mrs Taylor
. Terry Silver AKA Silver 
. Phil (owned boardinghouse)
. Gil and Judd
. Principle and Vice-Principle 
. Bobby Crow 
. Uncle Stephen
. Kenneth 
. Mr Gayle AKA Cal and Mrs Gayle 
. Psycho, Jerry Huff and Arch Cook
. Rhea Clark (Toby loved her)
. Mr and Mrs Bolger
. Mr and Mrs Howard
. Father Karl
. Tina Flood
23
Q

Who was Toby friends with at some point?

A

. Taylor and Silver
. Arthur Gayle
. Chuck, Psycho, Huff and Arch

24
Q

Describe Toby/Jack Wolff.

A

. He refuses to surrender his belief in himself and his future despite a turbulent adolescence.
. Uses his imagination to escape his (grim) childhood turmoil (riddled with domestic violence, alcohol abuse, criminal activity and emotional neglect)
. Coping mechanism - imagines himself as whatever he wants to be (masculinity, reputation, cool vs uncool)
. Sometimes he convinces himself that his imagination is real when it actually isn’t (eg. When forging letters of recommendation)
. He doesn’t let people define him, yet he is influenced heavily by the delinquents he always ends up with
. Deep down he is kind and compassionate just like his mother
. He feels inadequate and unworthy for most of his childhood, but he quickly grows to realise that he deserves more attention and care than he is given

25
Q

Describe Rosemary Wolff.

A

. She strays from the conventions of the society she lived in
. She is caring and assumes the best in people (unfortunately this included Dwight)
. She is also very protective of her son
. Her undying determination makes Toby see the light in even the most bleak of situations, hence her depression makes Toby feel as if everything is dark
. She wants to provide Toby with a stable home, so she marries Dwight
. Rosemary’s temper is remarkably mild, much like Toby’s (even when Toby has caused terrible trouble or shamed himself, Rosemary cannot bear the thought of striking or even verbally reprimanding him)
. Rosemary is fiercely independent, but whenever she has garnered sufficient courage, strength, and money to leave one of bully, she moves on to yet another.
. She remains confident that whatever hardship she is enduring will eventually pass.

26
Q

Describe Dwight.

A

. Dwight is definitely seen as the person who steals Jack’s happy childhood right out from underneath him.
. He is cruel, a monster whose only motivation is to degrade and defile everyone he can in order to lesson his own insecurities (needs to belittle and victimize others to reassure himself that he is important).
. He feels to meet standards of masculinity (can’t shoot, isn’t particularly strong, can’t keep Rosemary in place) so he uses brutality to control others
. Toby has to deal with the worst of Dwight’s brutality and is rendered helpless by Dwight’s unflinching adult authority.
. He uses physical force to make his power known.
. He derives satisfaction from exercising his power over other people (mainly Jack and Rosemary - ‘keeping her in her place’)
. He is also exceedingly deceptive and dishonest (seen when he steals Toby and Rosemary’s hard-earned wages and spends the money on himself after assuring them both that he is depositing it into their accounts).

27
Q

Describe Pearl, Norma and Skipper.

A

Norma:
. Dwight’s eldest daughter (Toby harbors a secret infatuation for her)
. She is sweet and loves Bobby Crow
. Later, Norma decides that Bobby is not ambitious enough to marry and settles for Kenneth (an awfully miserable man who turns her tired and morose)

Pearl:
. Dwight’s youngest child (the same age as Toby)
. Pearl and Toby despise one another and do everything possible to get on each other’s nerves.

Skipper:
. He is few years older than Jack and Dwight’s second-eldest child
. Skipper, is reserved and polite.
. He spends months transforming a beat-up 1949 Ford, only to have it destroyed in a sandstorm on his way to Mexico.

28
Q

Describe Arthur Gayle.

A

. He is considered an outcast who spends most of his time with his dog, Pepper, but eventually becomes Toby’s best friend.
. Toby is reluctant to begin a friendship with Arthur due to how ‘uncool’ he is considered to be
. After Toby calls Arthur a sissy, they get into a fistfight.
. After the fight they become friends, although ultimately, because of Toby’s insensitivity, that friendship does not last.

29
Q

Describe Arthur and Geoffrey Wolff.

A

Geoffrey Wolff
. Toby’s kind older brother, who is a student at Princeton while Toby is still in high school.
. He grew grown up in his father’s custody and goes for years without seeing Jack and his mother.
. Six years later he and Toby begin corresponding by mail.
. He encourages Jack to apply to private schools on the east coast (after hearing of the abuse Toby endures) and arranges for them to meet during the summer.
. When they do meet, Geoffrey cares for Jack like a father because their father is unreliable.
. Unfortunately it meant he couldn’t write his novel or prepare his classes to teach in Istanbul.

Arthur Wolff
. Toby’s father who is a compulsive liar (furniture, religion, name, coat of arms) and who makes promises to Jack that he cannot keep.
. When Toby goes to stay with him for the summer, Arthur leaves for a vacation.
. When Arthur returns, he has a breakdown and committed to a sanitarium, where he remains for the rest of Toby’s visit.
. Toby originally didn’t care, but when we see a snapshot into his future when he holds his first child we see how angry Toby is at the realisation that his father should have been there for him.

30
Q

Describe Chuck Bolger.

A

. He is the son of a minister
. He is gentle, but somewhat an alcoholic
. He impregnates Tina Flood, an overweight and promiscuous fifteen-year-old girl at their high school.
. He is going to be charged with statutory rape unless he Marry’s Tina Flood, yet Chuck refuses to marry Tina.
. However he is pardoned when his friend Huff agrees to marry her instead.

31
Q

Describe Roy.

A

. Rosemary’s alcoholic and abusive ex-husband who tracks Rosemary and Toby from Sarasota to Salt Lake City after she has fled from him.
. He is extremely possessive of Rosemary and checks up on her obsessively.
. Roy has a fascination for guns, and gives Jack his Winchester .22.
. Toby believed that Roy is what a man should be (didn’t know of the “threats and occasional brutality” until later)

32
Q

What themes are there in This Boys Life?

A

. Transformation (appearance vs reality, reputation, masculinity, conventions, self-recreation)
. Identity (masculinity, reputation, judgement)
. Family (conventional home)
. Lies and Deceit (appearance vs reality, covering up, promises, betrayal, guilt, defiance)
. Power/control vs Powerlessness (domestic violence, conventions)
. Dreams (imagination and escape)
. Rules and Order (societal conventions)
. Masculinity (cars, guns)
. Identity (reputation, self-recreation, clothes and uniforms)
. Relationships (conventions, judgement, appearance vs reality, domestic violence and neglect)

33
Q

Explain the following theme: Transformation.

A

. Throughout this memoir we see Toby trying to change who he is, firstly by changing his name to Jack.
. He would constantly his facade around new people in order to be the person he imagined himself to be (tries to change who he is to put on different masks and pass himself off as something he isn’t).
. Ironically, in the process, he changes his core being far more than any of the masks he wears.
. Toby wants to leave home because he is unhappy there, but also because he yearns for the opportunity to recreate himself in a place where he does not have a tarnished reputation.

34
Q

Explain the following theme: Identity

A

. This is an issue which a marjotiy of characters struggle with (including Toby, Arthur Gayle, Arthur Wolff, Dwight)
. Toby struggles to understand who he is, especially since he wants his identity to fit within the criteria of masculinity - struggles between who he thinks he is and who he wants to be
. He adopts false personas (he is seduced by images of himself a rebel and a thief who will not conform)
. The environments which him and Rosemary do settle down in tend to be counterproductive (with people who break his self confidence and pride)
. Not as terrible as he thinks he is, nor is he as good as he wants to be

. Arthur Gayle - trying too hard with his girlfriend (Toby notices) and he was not a “good citizen”
. Arthur Wolff - fake old furniture, fake coat of arms, actually jewish
. Dwight - fails miserably at meeting the standards of masculinity so uses brutality to justify his false identity as a macho man

35
Q

Explain the following theme: Family.

A

. The only stable family Toby has was his mother
. Toby always wanted a “conventional family” however he realised that it wasn’t as good as it seemed (Wolff critiques the beliefs of the 1950’s)
. A conventional family proved unsuccessful with Roy, Dwight and his own father
. It is revealed that a “conventional family” actually promoted the patriarchy which unfortunately came with control and oppression

36
Q

Explain the following theme: Power and Powerlessness.

A

. As the kid, Toby constantly feels powerless
. Even when his mother asks for his opinion, he knows when she has already made up her mind or that its too late
. Against Dwight, Toby is also powerless
. He is considered a child, he doesn’t yet have power, but desires it
. When he has the of a gun in his hands and draws a bead on people he “laughs “in the ecstasy of my power” over him
. Dwight is powerful whilst he keeps up his macho persona through brutalit

37
Q

Explain the following theme: Dreams/escape

A

. Toby uses his imagination as a place of refuge throughout the novel, which is otherwise absent from his unhappy domestic life.
. He wants nothing more than to escape from Dwight’s authority and from the preconceived notions that people there have developed of him.
. He imagines successful-looking men who pass him on the street are actually his father coming to greet him.

(Uses his imaginative fantasies as a vehicle to escape from the misery of his home life. These fantasies in fact keep him going through these tough times).

38
Q

Explain the following theme: Rules and Order.

A

. In order to keep order their were rules that were expected to be followed

Eg. The patriarchy - where the men held authority over the women and children in a household
. Women were expected to stay in their place (stay at home, look after the kids, cook and clean)
. Men were expected to be dominant and be the head of the house (they were the bread winners)

. Rosemary did not want to be held back and kept in her place, she wanted freedom (which wasn’t what her partners wanted)
. She even able to meet a lot of the masculine expectations (which Dwight couldn’t meet) such as shooting and having a job

39
Q

Explain the following theme: Masculinity.

A

. 50’s america preoccupied masculine culture: guns, hunting and outdoor sports
. Celebration if male violence through blood sports (“grudge fights” as entertainment)
. Instilling desire for fighting skills (Dwight teaches Toby to “dry gulch” an opponent)
. Wolff captures the oppressive ‘machismo’ in American society
. Values and standards of manliness are celebrated, elevated, dominant and unquestioned, whilst perceived weaknesses are denigrated and seen as feminine (term “sissy” = worst insult, Roy holding Rosemary in her place)
. Women are treated as possessions (chattel)
. Wolff’s depiction of his mother as a woman seeking her independence and freedom in a world dominated by male values reveals how this 50’s society is far from ready to share its privileges and recognise women as equal.
. The female gender is clearly powerless and subservient

39
Q

What were some issues depicted in the memoir?

A

. Identity - youth culture, authenticity and teenage rebellion
. Abuse of power - gender, militarism and violence

40
Q

Historical, social and political context PART 1.

A

. Social moods of the late 1950s and early 1960s:

  • Oppressive atmosphere of rigid expectations
  • An intolerance of difference or perceived non-conformity
  • Suppression of one’s true identity

. Sense of adventure and optimism that Rosemary begins with is tied to the American Dream of the land of opportunity after the Californian Gold Rush

. Latter half of the novel touches on the Kennedy campaign and the beginning of the Vietnam War

. Dwight forces Jack to join the Boy Scouts, which is linked to the more conservative Republican values

41
Q

Historical, social and political context PART 2.

A

. Focus on gun culture and its links to masculinity and identity

. Arthur Gayle stands out as a ‘sissy’ due to his homosexual tendencies, although his sexual orientation is never outright stated in the text, and he is deemed an outsider due to his nature

. Tobias/Jack is searching for meaning in his life and his place in society whilst rebelling against society itself

. Links can be drawn to the youthful teen rebellion, adolescent rites of passage, the music of the ‘swinging sixties’, and actors like James Dean – all which highlight a defiance of parent wishes, relaxed attitudes towards sex and opposition towards Government and older generation values