Chapters 5-6

Throughout the past few chapters, we see that the people of Waknuk really take what they believe seriously. Alan, the blacksmith's son, is one of the many characters that believes any person who has even the slightest deviation is wrong. While David and Sophie were playing in the stream, Alan noticed Sophie's footprint on a rock clearly showing her sixth toe. I wonder if Alan knew the problems Sophie would have to face when he told the people of Waknuk about her. Sophie's family left Waknuk to escape some of those consequences, but unfortunately were captured. David and Sophie had a great friendship, leaving the question if Sophie and her family will every come back to Waknuk. But I think that Sophie will eventually be killed because of her differences. In chapter six, the inspector says "Every part of the definition is as important as any other; and if a child doesn't come within it, then it isn't human, and that means it doesn't have a soul. It is not in the image of God, it is an imitation, and in the imitations there is always some mistake." I think this quote is interesting because in their community they think that if someone isn't perfect, they aren't considered a human or made in the image of God. But us as Christians believe that no one is perfect and everyone is made in the image of God. The people of Waknuk definitely have some strange beliefs.

Chapters 3-4

In chapters 3 and 4,David shows that he has grown to care more about Sophie. He visits with Sophie a few times a week and once her foot is healed he brings her to the steam engine. When bringing Sophie home, David gets the chance to meet Sophie's father, Mr. Wender. Tension is seen between the two of them, and David realizes that Mr. Wender does not trust him. But that doesn't keep David from his friendship with Sophie. Later on, David dreams about Sophie being killed by his dad, leaving David worried about the danger Sophie could be in because of her differences. Their friendship continues to grow despite their differences. David also reveals his gift of telepathy to his Uncle Axel who finds David talking to himself. Why? David seems to trust his uncle more than anybody, even his own father. I think that David and Sophie will discover more mysterious things about Waknuk and slowly learn to adapt to their community.

Chapters 1-2

As I began reading, I noticed some things in the novel that don't relate to our lives at all. On page 13, David, the main character in the novel, recites the definition of man. As he started saying it, it sounded right until he said that any creature that isn't formed in the proper way isn't seen as human. This is opposite of what the Bible says. God loves people for who they are, not the way they look. Also, in the first chapter, David meets Sophie and discovers that she has six toes. This is one thing that shows the atmosphere and location that this story takes place in is very strange. I think that this book has something to do with the change of the world after the holocaust and adapting to society with that change. In the novel, David seems puzzled about everything that is happening, and I think that has something to do with change.