English NotesOctober 15, 2015Class Chapter Review Notes
95-98
- Jack moves in Dwight’s house
- Jack has to husk chestnuts
- Dwight is always looking over Jack’s shoulder, makes him take on a paper route, but Dwight keeps the money
- Dwight is tyrannical
- Norma and Skipper try to tell Dwight that he’s over working Jack
- Pearl angles herself as the “good kid”
- Dwight fears losing Rosemary
- Themes: Identity and masculinity—what does it mean to be a man? Dwight—shoots, drives fast, macho. Arthur—feminine, part of a homophobic time period
98-101
- Jack joins the Boy Scouts—when he wears the uniform he switches his identity
- Dwight thrives off the power he has over the Scouts. He is concerned about his appearance. If he dresses the part, and associates himself with a wholesome group, it will appear that he, too, is wholesome (we know differently!).
- Jack “dreamed of doing brave, selfless deeds, generally of a military character; dreamed them so elaborately that I knew the histories of my comrades, saw their faces, heard their voices, felt grief when my heroism was insufficient to save them” (100). Eventually, Tobias Wolff goes to Vietnam and becomes a writer. His “play acting”/imagination/ability to create stories as a method of escape leads to his future.
101-104
- Jack and Dwight attend the Boy Scout meeting—they act like father and son. As soon as Dwight gets home, though, he drinks and criticizes Jack.
- Jack reads the Handbook for Boys. “But what I liked best about the Handbook was its voice, the bluff hail-fellow language by which it tried to make being a good boy seem adventurous, even romantic” (103).
- Dwight wants to paint the whole house white—even the coffee table, beds, draws, dining room table.
white to make everything appear pure
white can remind you of an institution (school, prison, hospital).
107-111
- Arthur is introduced. Jack claims his mother dressed Arthur in girls’ clothes, and that he acts effeminate (like a sissy).
- Both Jack and Arthur have an identity conflict. Jack attempts to be manly; Arthur is effeminate.
- Arthur is smart and doesn’t care what others think about him.
- Jack calls Arthur a sissy. Arthur punches him. Jack hits him back in the eye (sees his eye is swelling up, wants to stop the fight). Arthur trips Jack, they
- At the end of the fight, Arthur makes Jack admit to him that Arthur is not a sissy. Jack says it to Arthur—it reestablishes his pride and masculinity.
Gaps in narration and room for inference:
- Rosemary and Dwight get married. They become back from the honeymoon early. Dwight sleeps on the couch, continues to drink.
- We can infer that their relationship is destructive. Dwight has dropped the “nice guy” act.
- Did something physical happen during the honeymoon?
113-116
- Dwight attempts to teach Jack how to fight. He teaches Jack cheap shots—appropriate for Dwight.
- Dwight = macho/masculine, abusive, tyrannical. Arthur is effeminate, scholarly. Both male figures offer differing views of masculinity.
- Is it unmanly to be weak?