Nov 16, 2009

The Lame Shall Enter First | Summary

Sheppard has little sympathy for his ten-year-old son, Norton, who in his view lacks brains, curiosity, and, most importantly, empathy for others. Instead, Sheppard prefers the fourteen-year-old miscreant Rufus Johnson, whom he had been trying to help at the reformatory. Sheppard thinks that Rufus is brilliant and needs only a chance to make something of himself. In fact, Sheppard gives Rufus a key to his house to demonstrate his trust, for Rufus’s grandfather, a religious zealot, beats him. When Sheppard pressures his son by asking him how he would like to live as poor Rufus has,...