Wu Ting
How would you explain this sentence? Tomorrow begins a real job, for pay. Pearl diving, Bull’s Eye calls it. Washing dishes in the mess hall. Father arranged it to cover board over the summer. But this afternoon, nothing yet to do in the empty barracks but take out every pair of pants from the foot locker and fold it up again. Or sit on the bed with The Odyssey. Until the head of Bull’s Eye appears around the door. All ears and smile, the half-bit haircut. “Heya bookworm. Too busy lollygagging, then?” “Too busy for what?” The book claps shut. “Noodle juice and cookies with Mrs. Hoover. Whatcha think, for what? An ankle excursion.” “K Street?” The smile disappears because the whole boy disappears. The Odyssey can be reopened to any page, it doesn’t matter which. And then he is back, that grin. The scion of a ruined family, delighted with himself. This hurts, an ache in the groin, wanting so badly to see that smile and follow it somewhere.How would you explain this sentence: The scion of a ruined family? Whom does it refer to? The second boy? Thanks!
Mar 17, 2014 8:07 AM
Answers · 1
"The smile disappears because the whole boy disappears. ... And then he is back, that grin. The scion of a ruined family, delighted with himself. " "the whole boy" refers to Bull's Eye. "The scion of a ruined family" is therefore Bull's Eye. Google defines "scion" as "a descendant of a notable family". E.g.: "he was the scion of a wealthy family" synonyms: descendant, offshoot. Bull's Eye is the child of a noted family that has fallen on hard times, lost it's fortune.
March 17, 2014
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