Quotation

"I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guys came in a truck and took then away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away." pg.13. In this passage, Holden relates the ducks to himself. He proposes the question in which whether it is the school kicking him out, or if it is simply his own faults. Did Holden not make the effort on purpose or did the school no longer want him? 

To be phony means that you are not real or fake. Adults generally are better at being phony compared to kids because as you get older, you become wiser. Since adults tend to be more believable than children, phoniness lacks in young ones and is found often in those who have a greater rank in intelligence. We tend to trust their opinion and judgments more than those who are not. Any time my parents were phony towards me were either when they discussed Santa arriving on Christmas, or the Easter bunny leaving candy in my basket. The only time I was to prove them wrong was finding out on my own that the tooth fairy was not real. In this case, if adults are believable, we usually find out the 'truth behind it all' from them; we have the opportunity to prove them wrong ourselves.

David sees history as being somewhat false. He believes that there were bad things that were a part of history such as rape and murder that were not recorded in news articles and magazines. This wouldn't make us aware of the situations that might have happened in the past. 

David's relationship with his wife is that he doesn't/didn't tell her much about what went on in Montana of 1948. He decided to let her find out herself, not warning her of her parents response is she had proposed the question. 

Wesley and Julian both died at the end of the story. Julian had smoked way too much, and Wesley had two cancer surgery's, but couldn't pull through for too much longer. 

Near the end of the book David imagines playing football with Ronnie Tall Bear and Marie Little Soldier. He remembers the apple cider they would drink after a long day spent in the sun and he misses it; he cherishes it as well. 

Wesley made a comment about how Montana shouldn't be blamed for the occurrences that happened there. In the Hayden's view as a family, Montana remained innocent. 

At the end of Montana 1948, things start to go downhill. The Haydens listen to Frank rustling around in the basement and when checked upon, the come to find that he is dead. By breaking the jars in the basement, Frank made his approach in a negative way to deal with the situation. 

After the incident, Wes sits down with David and explains that when he was little, Frank had chanced away the 'mean brothers' over a mistake due to golfballs. Wes had been grateful for Frank's strength to stand up for the boys, and if it weren't for him, who knows what would have happened to Wes. This is a time in the book that Wes looks back on the positive years he shared with his brother.