The+Telegram


 * The Big Questions: 1. How does this chapter fit the novel as a whole / 2. Why is it important / 3. What should a good reader take away from this chapter?:**

1. It shows that Johnson dies and that his death has a very big impact on their life. It also shows the relationship of the family because the way they deal with anything hard is silence and putting their heads down and carrying on, and not by questioning what happened. (Morgan, Schramm, Zhu)

2. It's important because it tells you that Johnson dies. It also shows that the mother was around more than we originally thought and she cared and loved Johnson like he was her own son. (Morgan, Schramm, Zhu)

3. The dynamic of the family as in question one. They should also understand that the family had to overcome a death so that effects the family a lot. (Morgan, Schramm, Zhu)

This chapter, //The Telegram,// explains why Johnson isn't always present in all of the chapters. It shows the grief and the agony that the family felt in great detail. It shows how Jess is finally going through the same experience and is included with the rest of the family. In the chapter the telegram kept on appearing, even when they did so much to banish it. The telegram most likely did not physically keep reappearing but their emotions anad sorrow for Johnson's death made it seam that it did (King and Nichols)


 * Important Quotes (and commentary):**

1. "I think that my grandmother and mother and father each had to undergo this ritual, and I think that we each saw the telegram take a different transformation before it disappeared, but we never spoke of that either. It was an agonizing ritual to undergo, hardest of all for my mother."

-It shows how Johnson became a big part of their family, and how everyone loved him so that it was hard for everyone to let him go and become accustomed to everyday life again. (Morgan, Schramm, Zhu)

2. "Yet in all these weeks we never talked about it, never mentioned it at all. That seemed strange to me, that the telegram brought us so much pain and fear and we wouldn't speak of it. Perhaps we were afraid if we talked about it, it would grow more omnipresent and we would never escape its power."

-Talking about it a not talking about it brought them the same pain, so they decided it would be better to go about their grief in silence. (Morgan, Schramm, Zhu)


 * Moments of astonishingly good writing:**

1. "Atlas the telegram began to change shape. Slowly wrinkling and furling inward, it took the form of a yellow rose, hand sized with layer on layer of glowing yellow petals. It seemed to hover an inch or so above the table cloth. It uttered a mournful little whimper and then, a sound I once heard a blind puppy make when it could not find its mothers warm flank. And with that sound it disappeared from my sight forever, tumbled spiraling down a hole in the darkness. I watched it go away and my heart lightened then I was able to rise, shaken and confused, and walk away from the room without shame, not looking back, finding my way confidently in the dark."

-Very descriptive, its and easy to relate with. Its simple picture in your mind which is why it is so beautifully written. (Morgan, Schramm, Zhu)