Chapter 5 Flashcards
- Why, according to David, is it an advantage to be able to use words
properly?
David realizes that if you use the right words, people will not be surprised by
what you say.
“Being able to use properly was a great advantage, for the more words you
knew the meaning of, the better you could think. And besides, people were not so
surprised at what you said if you used the right word.” (page 105)
- Why does David refuse to play soldiers and prisoners?
David thinks it is evil and horrible and that no one has any right to take other
people prisoner.
“I’m not very good at playing, but I can see when you play you try to imitate
what’s real, and I won’t have anything to do with pretending to take people
prisoner … it’s horrible and evil. No one has any right to take to take other people
prisoner. Everybody has a right to his life and freedom.” (page 109)
- Why does David feel uncomfortable in Carlo’s presence?
“Nevertheless it was unpleasant. Carlo was so good at deception that you
could hardly credit he was only a boy. He had made such an effort to
convince David that he was not bad, and when he realized that David was
not going to let himself be impressed, he pretended to be hurt by it. It was a
good thing David had seen so much deception in the camp that he was not
taken in, as Andrea and the two little boys and Maria were. They did not
know Carlo was evil. Because of that David felt uncomfortable in his
presence. (page 110)
- Describe the relationship between David and Maria.
It was only with Maria that David felt quite at ease. He never felt ignorant when
he was with her. She wanted to know what he thought about everything and
she did not seem to think he was strange. David felt that there were many things
he could help her with and that he had to take care of her. (page 111)
- What is Elsa’s main concern about David?
She doesn’t like his attitude towards Carlo and she does not like his relationship
with Maria. (page 121)
