49 pages • 1 hour read
Russell BanksA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Bone narrates the book in a conversational, stream-of-consciousness style. How does this style help convey the themes of the book? Why would this character tell this story in this way? (You might pay particular attention to the moments when Bone directly addresses his audience and think about the speaker-listener contract at work.)
Before becoming close with I-Man, Bone has a negative opinion of the white kids in his hometown who have dreadlocks and embrace Rastafarian culture. Is Bone’s journey toward that lifestyle more authentic than theirs, or is he one of them? Can a person embrace a culture outside of their own?
How does Bone come to reject the “rules” of the world around him in favor of his own?
By Russell Banks