The opening chapters establish Kenny as a very bright and shy 4th grader who has difficulty making true friends until Rufus Fry arrives in town from Arkansas. Since 1963 represented the middle of the American Civil Rights movement, race was a contentious issue, and segregation was widespread in the South. Kenny tells us the teasing is only really bad on the bus on days when Byron cuts school. Byron helps Kenny figure out how to look at people sideways so his lazy eye is less noticeable and he doesn't get teased as much. When he finally realizes she's really alive, he runs to tell the rest of the family. Momma told Byron he would be at Daddy's mercy after he____. • Kenny becomes friends with Rufus, the new kid at school. What made Kenny think Dad was very tired at the end of the drive? He was not going to say one single word during the trip, Before leaving Flint, Kenny heard Dad and Mr. Johnson talking about, driving straight through Alabama without stopping, Kenny got in trouble at the Wool Pooh after, he grabbed at a turtle he saw swimming in the water, Kenny told Byron he was ashamed of himself for, running away from church instead of fighting the Wool Pooh. For example, Kenny knows that Momma repeats herself when she's irritated, and he can always tell when Byron is about to get into trouble or pull a trick. Kenny starts telling us about Sunday school and how God sends a personal saver to protect everyone. However, Kenny has the kind of empathy that Byron does not appear to have. By Christopher Paul Curtis. What was it? And when the bomb goes off at the church, Kenny believes that he was supposed to fight the Wool Pooh in order to get Joey back. He made the decision to walk away rather than fight for Joey, afraid that the Wool Pooh would come for him, too. laughed when he came home with his hair processed. Kenny's imagination also allows him to believe almost every crazy thing Byron tells him, even when his more rational side knows it can't possibly be true: "Even though I was in fourth grade I fell for a lot of the stuff Byron came up with" (4.36). And we'll take it, because in the end, Byron finally does become the big brother Kenny has always needed. © 2020 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. Kenny seems like a pretty typical fourth grader. Larry had stolen them and was wearing them. Who asked Kenny how he got home so fast and why he changed his clothes? This family learns and grows, and this is one of the many quotes that exemplifies Kenny's gratitude towards his family for helping him in all kinds of situations. He makes sure we don't miss any of those juicy little details. wear many layers of clothes when they went out. Byron's lips became stuck to the mirror when he kissed his reflection, Byron helped Kenny by showing him how to____, look at people so he didn't appear cock-eyed, Rufus stopped coming over to play with Kenny after Kenny. How did Kenny describe Birmingham when he arrives? He's learned a few tricks from Byron, and he takes advantage of any opportunity to make fun of his brother, especially when he's in trouble. What did Momma make the children do in the winter? In Birmingham, the Watson kids go swimming in the lake, but Grandma Sands reminds them to stay away from Collier's Landing where there's a dangerous whirl pool. Joey is only five years old, and yet the racial boundaries set by her society are already ingrained in her mind. It's usually him that the other kids are laughing at, so when for once it isn't, the part of Kenny that's relieved someone else is getting picked on gets the better of him. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 essays are academic essays for citation. Whether or not the Wool Pooh is actually real, Kenny saw this figure in this moment, seemingly taking Kenny's sister away. Byron and Buphead threw someone who had bothered Kenny against the chain link fence over and over. In this chapter, Kenny gives us the lay of the land for Clark Elementary School. A few days later, Joey goes to church with the neighbors, and while she's gone, a bomb goes off in the church. Magic Powers to come and make him feel better, After they got home, Byron called the area where Kenny was going the. Kenny is by turns fearful of and enthralled by his older brother Byron, or By, who sometimes bullies Kenny and sometimes treats him kindly, but always has adventures that draw Kenny’s admiration. Ah, brothers. When Kenny finally quits coughing and throwing up, Byron hugs him and kisses his head and cries. Then he finds a shoe that looks just like Joey's under a pile of concrete. What did Momma say after she told the family about the trip to Alabama? Overall, Kenny's a nice kid and a good friend. Chapter 10. When she looks at a white angel and compares it to her dark skin, she sees a stark and unsettling difference, because society has already taught her that black and white are two entirely different, separate things. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. Not affiliated with Harvard College. With these words, Daniel reminds Wilona that, while she might remember Birmingham fondly, there are still evils there that the Watsons do not have to deal with up north in Flint. Kenny would not be in the wrong to take pleasure in seeing Larry Dunn beat up, since Larry stole Kenny's best gloves and then lied about doing so. #4: What does Kenny's family call the family car? For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. How? When they got home from Alabama, where were Byron and Kenny sleeping? What happened when Kenny and Byron were scraping the ice from the car? Even though Kenny is smart, he's still a kid at heart—and this kid has one wild imagination. ____ were killed in the bombing in Birmingham. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. "I guess I should have told Momma that I really appreciated her helping me get my friend back but I didn't have to. Even though he acted cheery with us I knew it wasn't the same for him now. He typically misbehaves and torments others, and an important premise in The Watsons Go to Birmingham is getting him to mature past this mentality and accept that he must grow up. Byron's character, though, is multi-dimensional; while he bullies Kenny … I gave the shoe one more hard tug and it popped loose from a frilly white sock. Gundersen, Kathryn. I was pretty sure she already knew.". resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Byron has been such a bully to him for so long that neither of them really knows how to be friends. He's perceptive, which means he's good at figuring out how other people are feeling by just watching them closely. He's kind, a little shy, but a good friend once you get to know him, and he loves to play with his collection of little plastic dinosaurs. What characters did he use to describe how the meeting actually went? Think about it: the few times throughout the book that Byron is friendly toward Kenny clearly light this kid up. This is the source of much of Kenny's guilt at the very end of the novel, but ultimately Kenny accepts the fact that neither he nor anyone else had any control over the terrible situation that unfolded in Birmingham. He thought all the fight was out of Byron. What's harder to understand is why Kenny would join in on laughing at Rufus when Larry Dunn makes fun of him for being poor. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Kenny goes into the church and he sees that two little girls have died. Whoever heard of something called a Wool Pooh? Larry Dunn and the others jump all over the new kids until the bus driver pushes them both into Kenny's seat.