The Stone Boy Group

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jclb
jclb
Student
High School - 12th Grade

Why does Arnold act like a stone boy after Eugie's death?

the stone boy

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Posted by jclb on Tuesday March 10, 2009 at 11:28 AM and tagged with arnold, characters, eugie, stone boy, the stone boy.

Answers:

  1. susanr2
    susanr2 Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    After the death of Eugie, Arnold acts like a stone for several reasons.  The first of these is that he does not want to draw attention to himself in any way.  Perhaps he feels that by melting into the background his parents will forget about him; thereby also forgetting what he did.  Also, there is not much emotion shown in this family prior to Eugie's death, thus, Arnold has no real experience showing emotion.  Finally, each person deals with death in their own way.  Arnold is personifing the "hard scrabble" way of life associated with life in the country.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/stone-boy/

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    Posted by susanr2 on Tuesday March 10, 2009 at 3:56 PM