Jewel pg 14-15

Jewel pg 14-15

“It’s because he stays out there, right under the window, hammering and sawing on the goddamn box. Where she’s got to see him. Where every breath she draws is full of his knocking and sawing where she can see him saying See. See what a good one I am making for you. I told him to go somewhere else. I said Good God do you want to see her in it. “ (pg 14)

This passage is the opening to Jewel’s chapter of this novel. He is speaking for the first time and it is difficult to tell whom Jewel is referencing. “He” in this passage is Cash, and “she” is Jewel’s mother Addie. Cash is building Addie’s coffin outside her window and is making a lot of noise. She is not dead yet, but she is sitting alone quietly watching him build her coffin. Anaphora is used, as well as other forms of repetition. “Where she’s got to see him. Where every breath…where she can see him…” is an example of anaphora. The repetition of the word “sawing,” emphasizes the sound of the saw, and how loud it is for the entire town to hear. Jewel’s true feelings towards his mother come out. He has such a problem with Cash sawing outside her room, which proves that he cares more for his mother than Cash. He’s tried everything to make Cash stop because he truly wants his mother to die in peace, and he would like to be at her bedside

Jewel is a difficult character to compare too, especially in the beginning of the story, when not much is known about him. However, I feel like he is comparable to Troy Bolton in High School Musical. Troy loves to sing, and has a problem when people make fun of him for that. However, he is too afraid to stand up for what he wants. Jewel loves his mother, and knows that he is the favorite, but similar to Troy, Cash is not brave enough to force Cash to stop building the coffin. He asked Cash to stop, and gave up when Cash didn’t listen. Troy told his friends about his singing, but wanted to quit when they didn’t agree with him. At this point in the story, I think that Jewel is going to allow his brother to ignore his wishes, but in the end, I predict that Jewel will end up letting his true feelings known, like Troy.