Connections and Quotations: Pages 1-16

The description of Bottom in the opening chapter reminds me of the black neighborhood where Tom Robinson lived in To Kill A Mockingbird. Both communities are black, close knit and have kept old traditions and culture alive. The people living in both communities interact distantly with white people and only deal with them when they have to. Such interactions seem strained and rare.

2 Major Quotes:
1) “…but when God looks down, it’s the bottom. That’s why they call it so. It’s the bottom of heaven- best land there is.” P. 5

The farmer said this to his freed slave when he was giving him land. The farmer tricked the slave out of asking for the good land by telling him that the bad land was “the bottom of heaven”. The slave fell for this and the land became the community of Bottom. This quote is important because it shows the effect titles have on places and people. Although the name Bottom sounds derogatory, its inhabitants flipped the meaning of the name to make it something beautiful. This quote really illustrates the way that labels can change anything.

2) “Shellfire was all around him, and though he knew that this was something called it, he could not muster up the proper feeling- the feeling that would accommodate it. He expected to be terrified or exhilarated- to feel something very strong. In fact, he felt only the bite of a nail in his boot, which pierced the ball of his foot whenever he came down on it.” P. 7-8

This quote comes from the part of the book where Shadrack is in combat in WWI. He knows that an event this huge should evoke some equally huge feelings and is surprised to feel nothing at all. This quote shows that Shadrack is different in some way. Most men thrown into Shadrack’s place would feel terror or excitement or some other strong emotions; Shadrack feels nothing like that. This quote introduces Shadrack’s character as somehow different.