HW due Wednesday

Students are to complete the following for HW:

Montana 1948 pgs 105-114 (20pts)
1. The first matter of the chapter is the burial of Marie Little Soldier. Her family has chosen not to have her buried locally, but to take her back to North Dakota. On page 105, David's father says, "I tried to tell Mrs. Little Soldier that this was Marie's home also and that we thought of her as a member of the family, but she didn't want to hear..." What's odd about this remark? And why does David's mother "nod knowingly" before she answers?

2. On page 106, David describes his father's approach to a criminal investigation, comparing his present investigation to one several years before. What does this description show about the way the law is conducted in Montana? How is this different from the way we expect the law to be applied?

3. What is the particular significance of the model of the B-29 that David is working on when his uncle and father arrive at the house on page 107? Remember that the author could have had David doing anything at all--the model is a carefully made, perhaps symbolic choice. Consider its variety of meanings. (There's no one right answer here...)

4. Why is Uncle Frank carrying "a small satchel"? Usually--in virtually every other scene in the novel when Uncle Frank comes to the house--he carries a doctor's bag. Even David notes the change. What's the meaning of the change?

5. On page 108, after David's father emerges alone from the basement, he drinks liquor. What's the significance of the brand he drinks? And why does David say that he "held the glass to the rain-streaked window as if he were examining it for impurities"?