Pg. 304 "Don't look at me like that. Yes your little brother ran away from Esther again," Victor said to him. "But not before he misbehaved so thoroughly that your aunt no longer thinks he's an angel. She doesn't want to see him again. Ever. Not him, and definitely not you Those were her words. I'm supposed to find a decent Italian children's home for the two of you, should you ever reappear again. But she won't have anything to do with either of you anymore."
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Here's what struck me throughout this book. Take a look at this paragraph out of context. Is this good news or bad? You're an orphan, your aunt hates you and plans to ship you to an orphanage if you manage to drag yourself off the street. It's horrible. But this book has such a wonderful way of turning the worst in life around and making it the best. This paragraph is said in jubilation! The characters are HAPPY that the aunt hates them and doesn't want them. The author's joyous irony is wonderful.
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Thanks for pointing this out. I read it and thought, 'Thank goodness those kids don't have to stay with that self-centered woman and her oblivious husband.' I was just as happy as Victor was that Prop & Bo were free. I had not even thought of them being without any family connection any longer. When you placed this paragraph out of context I looked at it in a different light. I can now have an even greater appreciation for this piece of literature.
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteI never realized how great this paragraph was until you pointed it out. When I first read this I was so happy for the boys because they wouldn't have to go back to their aunt and could finally be free from trying to escape her. But after looking at this paragraph out of context I actually got sad when I read it. Here's these two boys who have no connection to their family because their aunt doesn't want them. Thanks for pointing this paragraph out to me from a differnt view.
I had never looked at it like that before. Once I read it I was like Man. It's ture if someone was to over heard them talking here. They would feel that the children must be so very sad and heart broken that they are been turned away from the only family they have. Yet that is the only thing that can make these children happy.
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