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an invisble thread chapters 6-8

Terms in this set (10)

After several Mondays together, Laura decides to do what differently? Why does she appear to be conflicted about this decision?
After several Mondays together, Laura decides to invite Maurice to Laura's house for dinner. Laura told readers that, "When we met on the corner on our fourth Monday together, I told Maurice that instead of going out, I would cook him dinner in my apartment" (43). This shows that Laura decides to invite Maurice to the Symphony for dinner. Laura appeals to be conflicted with this decision because she doesn't know if people would think she was doing something wrong by inviting Maurice. Laura explains that "I'd been thinking of giving Maurice a home-cooked meal, but the same doubts kept creeping in: Should I be inviting this child into my home? Could this somehow backfire? What will people think?" (43). Laura is having a conflict if she should let Maurice go to the Symphony because she doesn't want people to think something wrong.
When Maurice initially sits down inside of Laura's apartment, he is uneasy. What behaviors tell us he is uncomfortable? What was the actual reason that Maurice confessed to Laura later about why he was uncomfortable?
Maurice's behavior that tells us he is uncomfortable is when his body language looked very odd. Laura describes that "Maurice tightened up... Maurice looked at me with his big round eyes and said nothing. He seemed confused, even startled" (45). By the way Maurice acts, the readers can see that he is very uncomfortable. The actual reason that Maurice confessed to Laura later about why he was uncomfortable is that people always use Maurice and want something from him. It was confusing that all Laura wanted from him was a friendship. Laura tells the readers, "In his experience adults usually wanted something from him... It hardly made sense to him that all I wanted was to be friends" (46). The adults that Maurice is presented with always need him to do something, and he didn't understand Laura when she said all she wanted was to be his friend.
Laura is trying to do acts of kindness for Maurice. Why is this more challenging than it should be? What is preventing Maurice from enjoying these gestures of kindness?
Laura's acts of kindness are more challenging than they should be because she doesn't know Maurice's family well enough to take Maurice's places with their documented permission. Laura gives Maurice clear instructions and says, "'I need your mother to sign a note saying she's okay with you riding in my car and going to the game, okay? Can you bring this to her and have her sign it?'" (48). These random acts of kindness are more complex than they should be since she needs permission to do them for Maurice. Maurice's family prevents him from enjoying these gestures since they haven't signed the permission slip. Laura told Maurice to meet her on Wednesday to get the permission slip back, but "Maurice never showed up" (49). Since Maurice didn't get the permission slip signed, his family is holding him back from doing so.
Why is Laura so insistent that Maurice get his mother's permission and sign the permission slip to go to the Met's game with Laura?
Laura is so insistent that Maurice get his mother's permission and sign the permission slip to go to the Met's game with Laura because she feels like she is the only person acting as a true mother in Maurice's life. Laura explains to readers that "After Maurice didn't show up with the note, I decided I had to find out these things for myself" (51). However, Laura wants to be the responsible one and act like Maurice's mother, so she decides to take matters into her own hands to have Maurice go to the Mets game.
Many people watch television shows for inspiration or a way to escape reality. What importance did the television show Kate & Allie play in Maurice's life? What does this show about Maurice's ability to survive?
The TV show Kate & Allie played an essential role in Maurice's life since it helped him survive. He needed food so that he wouldn't starve. Laura supports the readers to understand that Maurice "would go into the theater during tapings and sit in the audience, then go backstage and eat food set out on tables for the crew. After a while people assumed the boom guy, a tall black man, was his dad. The crew got to know him and let him hang around" (51). This shows that Maurice was crafty and genus about his ability to survive in the world.
Maurice's mother's drug addiction didn't seem to be a negative to him for a long time. Why was Maurice actually happy when his mother would inject heroin? What does this tell you about his life and how instrumental the drug was in his mother's life?
Maurice is actually happy when his mother would inject heroin because that's when his mother was happy. Laura helps the readers realize that "For Maurice, these were the best moments—when his mother found her peace" (55). This tells us that Maurice's life is backward since he thinks drugs are good things when they are not. It also tells us that the adults made Maurice feel like this. Heroin was instrumental in his mother's life because that's what she needed to relax.
Laura has a belief that "sometimes we are drawn to that which is exactly the same" (74). How does this apply to people in Maurice's life? How does this apply to people in Laura's life?
This motto applies to the people in Maurcies's life because once his mother was free of drugs after rehab, she started doing them again. Laura describes that "Once Darcella got a taste for the drug, she became the biggest crack dealer in the hotel—bigger than any of the uncles" (63). Darcella was done with drugs, but once cocaine was brought in, she couldn't get enough of it. This motto also applies to the people in Laura's life since her mother, Marie, wanted to get out of her abusive family's life, but instead, she just became part of a new one. Laura told readers that, "Maria, my mother—realized at a very young age that she needed to flee his brutal control. And so, when she was just nineteen, she fell for and married a man she believed could take her away from her old family and into a new and happy one of her own" (74). Likewise, Marie tried to escape the abusive life but failed and started a new abusive family.
What kind of role does love and affection play in both Maurice's and Laura's lives? Why is this significant?
Love and affection play a hidden role in both Maurice's and Laura's lives. In Laura's life, her father rarely showed any affection. Lauras referred to her father and said, "The demons inside him would stew and percolate and rise to the surface, awaiting the slightest trigger to explode. The trigger could be anything, even nothing" (77). Laura's father rarely shows any love towards Laura, so love and affection play a hidden role in her life. In Maurice's life, love was also hidden. Not once does anyone tell Maurice that they love him. They only use him. For instance, Darcella used Maurice and said, "'Stand up around me,' she told her children, and Maurice and his sisters formed a wall so no one could see her shoot up" (56). No one shows any affection to Maurice. They only use him for their needs. The hidden role love plays in both Laura's, lives Maurice's life is significant because it shows just how much the two can relate to each other from both of their stories.
In Laura's life, she has heard of generations of her family repeating the same behaviors. How is Laura like those in her family before her? How is she different from them?
Laura is like those from her family before her because, just like her dad, Laura works non-stop too. Laura referred to her father and said, "He never stopped working from that day forward" (74). This shows that Laura has the same behavior as her father. However, Laura is different from them since she isn't scared of standing up for what she thinks. An example of this is when her mother and father got into a fight. Laura describes that "Annette begged me to go and break up the fight. I was usually as scared as she was, but this time I was so worried for my mother that I ran into the living room" (80). Laura isn't scared of her father as the rest, and she stands up for what she believes.
After Laura visits Maurice's mother, he begs Laura to never go back to his "home" again. What does this tell the reader about Maurice? What does this tell the reader about Laura?
Maurice tells Laura to never go back to his "home" again, and it tells us that he really cares about Laura and is watching out for her. Maurice told Laura, "'Nice white ladies should never be in a place like that. You can't go back there. Promise me you won't go back there'" (66). This also tells readers that Laura doesn't care how bad of a place she goes to since she is doing it for Maurice and that she is willing to do anything for Maurice, even if it means never going back there.
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