Satan+Says


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

This chapter is a big moment of realization for Jess. He and Johnson had been plotting to pull a Halloween prank on Doc McGreavy, and Jess was so excited to finally feel like a part of Johnson's group. Jess is disappointed and confused when the tables are turned on him by Johnson and Doc, and he becomes the target of the prank. This episode reinforces the idea in Jess's head that he is not yet ready to be one of the adults. (Freschi) When Jess looks back on this memory, he finds it funny, unlike how he felt when it happened. It shows how even though it was an upsetting time, it turned into a great memory. (Conrad, Burrows)


 * Important Quotes (and commentary)**

//Kids will sometimes seize upon something to be frightened of. A boy willing to stand up to the roughest bully in the schoolyard may be terrified that a hen will peck his hands. Girls will sometimes choose an uncle to hide from when he comes to visit, peeping at him from behind doorjambs and sofas. They choose these fears and cannot say why, but there's a secret delight in them.//
 * This paragraph explains Jess's child-like behaviors to the reader, while simultaneously continuing the theme that he is still a child compared to the rest of the men. (Freschi)

//When I wanted to give myself a thrill before going to sleep, I would lie on my back and peer up into the dark and whisper, "Nux vomica, nux... vom-ica."//
 * This also explains Jess's child-like behaviors.

//"When Queenie died in early September my father said it was just natural old age, but Johnson and I were unconvinced. We wept a little when we dug her grave under the spiky plum tree and agreed that her body was too stiff and contorted for her death to have been natural.// //"He went and done it," Johnson said. "He's got all that poison and stuff in his black bag. I'm satisfied it was him."//

//"That wasn't fair the way you-all tricked me," I said, 'not a bit fair. You and me was supposed to be in this together."//

//"He considered that i was lucky to have parents and even a grandmother to live with. I had a large number of uncles and aunts also, and Johnson regarded this state of affairs as unwarranted luxury."//
 * Jess is realizing what he has and that he shouldn't take anything, especially his family, for granted. (Burrows, Conrad)

//"Then Satan spoke. There was never a voice like that in the world. It was deep and dark and full of power like a boulder tearing open."//
 * Jess is so paranoid and anxious that he takes the events to an extreme. Since it's just Johnson's voice, it must not have been as big and powerful as he had said. This is great description, though. (Burrows, Conrad)


 * Moments of astonishingly good writing**