First Impressions

Even from reading only a couple chapters, the author has taught me a lot about the main character of this story. So far, the characters that have been introduced are Danny, Jenny, their mother, and their father. Out of all characters, Danny's younger sister, Jenny has been mentioned the least.

Reading the first two chapters made me realize that Danny is basically like any kid who faces abuse in their household. He wants to be normal. He wants to live a normal life. I noticed that Danny continuously tries to deny the fact that his mother is being abused. He doesn't want to have to think about it. Whenever he hears his dad screaming and threatening his mother, he brushes it off as if it's nothing big. In the text on page 22, it says, "Danny knew that his parents didn't get along, but that wasn't so unusual was it?  His friends' parents argued.  Some even divorced." He feels that just because his mom hasn't walked away from her husband yet, that things are okay. It's as if he is using any excuse to keep his father in the family.

I also believe that Danny feels lonely. After the tragic incident where Danny's father had pushed his mother down the stairs, Danny's father had gone to jail. "He couldn't understand why she [his mother] didn't seem to feel as alone without her husband ash he felt without his father. He wanted Dad back. He wanted things to be just the way he used to be," says the text. He has even went into his parents' room, and opened his father's drawers to see if his clothes were still there. When he saw them still there, he reassured himself that his mother was planning on letting his father come back. 

I also believe that the abuse his father has shown at home, and the loneliness Danny is facing has affected him. In the book, it stated that Danny would yell at his mother and that just about anything would make him angry. I think this is because he has been in an unhealthy environment - seeing his father yell at his mother all the time - for too long.