Bud wakes up and sees the sun peeking through a Christmas tree. He jumps up and runs “six or seven blocks down to the mission.” He notices the line is long and tries to get behind the last person but is stopped by a man who tells him the line is closed.
The long line at the mission is another reminder that the book is set during the Great Depression and that these are hard times for everyone.
ACTIVE THEMES
Economic Insecurity and Community Theme Icon Children vs. Adults Theme Icon
Bud tries to protest, but the man tells him that rules are rules. Everyone else has been waiting in line for the past two hours, so it’s not fair that Bud gets to sleep in and slip into the line. Just because Bud is “skinny and raggedy,” the man adds, doesn’t mean he can get special treatment. He reminds Bud to get in line for dinner at 4 p.m.—dinner is served at 6 p.m.—and threatens him with a “heavy black strap,” forcing Bud to back away.
The man seems to be some sort of mission security guard, given the strap that he carries. He is strict, domineering, and unfeeling, which seems representative of the adults who have been tasked with taking care of Bud since his mother’s passing. The man doesn’t care that Bud is “skinny and raggedy,” nor does he worry about the fact that Bud is all alone—instead, he treats Bud like a lazy, good-for-nothing kid who intentionally slept in, which readers know isn’t the case.
ACTIVE THEMES
Children vs. Adults Theme Icon
Bud takes two steps back before another man puts his hand around Bud’s neck from behind. Startled, Bud looks behind him and sees a “tall, square-shaped man in old blue overalls.” The man begins referring to Bud as Clarence and shakes his head at Bud when Bud tries to deny his name is Clarence. He motions for Bud to join his “momma” in line and Bud sees a woman, “pointing her finger at her feet” next to two children. Bud walks towards her and the children, and the woman slaps him when he gets there.
Luckily, a stranger comes to Bud’s rescue by making it seem as if Bud is his son. Unaccustomed to having other people looking out for him—and generally skeptical of adults—Bud at first does not understand what is going on. However, the man continues to insist that Bud is part of the family—unwilling to see Bud leave without food. He even makes Bud join the rest of the “family” in line, inducting Bud into his family in the process so that Bud belongs with them at least temporarily.
ACTIVE THEMES
Economic Insecurity and Community Theme Icon Family and Home Theme Icon
Bud tries to thank the strangers for saving him, but his “pretend parents” hit him whenever he tries to say something out of character. He waits in line with his pretend parents for a “long, long time,” and remarks that everyone in line was “very quiet.” Finally, as they near the end of the line, people start “laughing and talking,” mostly about the sign on the building. The sign shows a rich, smiling white family in a fancy car with a sign that reads, “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE AMERICA TODAY!”
Bud begins to think of these kindly strangers as his “pretend parents,” which shows that he is willing to play into the fantasy of having a real family. The picture of the smiling white family seems to be mocking all those in line by singing praises about America at a time marked by economic struggle. Race is a subtle undercurrent in the novel, and the fact that the family on the sign is white—and that they appear both rich and optimistic about life in their country—speaks to the profound racial inequality in the United States during this time, as white people were able to enjoy countless privileges and opportunities that black people had no way to access. This book is set during the Great Depression, and segregation didn’t end in the U.S. for nearly 20 years after that.
Explanation:
