Group+Three+Montana

DATE:March 21, 2011 GROUP #:3 MEMBERS:Steven Timpanaro, Leah Baumgarten, Jeff Domville, Kelsey Obrien.
 * Book Group Template**

Thesis: Grandfather Hayden's favoritism to Frank made Frank believe he was above the law and could get away with anything.

Introduction: Topic: Family issues in the Hayden family. Why is it important: This is important because to fully understand the reasons of the events that happened, you must understand the source of where it all started. Author and Title: Larry Watson, Montana 1948 3 supporting reasons 1. Grandpa Hayden can’t accept the fact that his favorite son is a rapist/murderer. 2. Wes locking Frank up in a basement causes more tension between Grandpa and Wesley. 3. Grandpa Hayden thinks Wesley is just jealous of Frank. Grandfather Hayden's favoritism to Frank made Frank believe he was above the law and could get away with anything.

**Supporting Section #1:**  ü Frank’s father encouraged him when he was a child. This made Frank believe he was better than others and that he could do whatever he pleased.  ü “You don’t lock up a man for that. You don’t lock up your brother.”  ü “Ever since Frank came home in a uniform and you stayed here, you’ve been jealous. I saw it.”  ü His father believes that the only reason that Wes is holding Frank downstairs was because he was jealous of him as a kid. He believes this is his own form of revenge of not being as good as Frank as a child. **Supporting Section //#2://**  · Wes Hayden has lived in his brother’s shadow his entire life  · “Brothers naturally invite comparisons were made between those two, my father was bound to suffer. And my father was, in many respects, an impressive man. He was tall, broad0shouldered, and pleasant-looking. But frank was all this and more” (Watson 36)  · “‘Ever since the war,” Grandfather began, “ever since Frank came home in a uniform and you stayed here, you’ve been jealous. I saw it. Your mother saw it. The whole goddamn town probably saw it. But I thought you’d have the good sense not to do anything. Now you pull a fucking stunt like this. I should’ve taken you aside and got you straightened out. If it mean whipping your ass I should’ve got you straightened out.”  · In the first quote, it is obvious that Frank is favored when people look between the two brothers. There is nothing wrong with Wes but Frank is just so “outstanding” that he outshines Wes. In the second quote, Wes’s father shows what Wes’s childhood was like, living in a house where Frank was the favorite. - David Hayden has always lived in the illusion of a perfect world where nothing bad happens. -"Every time I came across the gun it was unloaded." - Implies there is no need for a gun because of a lack of danger. -"I was beginning already to think of Uncle Frank as a criminal. I may not have been entirely convinced of his guilt." -This quote shows David is in denial that somebody in his family would be accused of a crime.
 * Supporting Section #3 **

Conclusion The grandfather, throughout his children’s childhoods made Frank seem superior, which led Frank to think he can get away with whatever he wants. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 37.2pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Frank was directly affected by his father praising him more than his brother, Wesely; this cause Frank to feel he had the right to do more than he actually could which led him to taking advantage of others. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 37.2pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Throughout Wes's entire life no matter how much he tried he wasn't good enough for his father. Living in the shadows caused Wes to see things others could not see; his brothers misguidedness David always thought that his town was safe and no harm would be done in his town. He never even expected someone in his family would be at the center of the problem.

For your reading of //Montana 1948//, book groups will meet four times to discuss the novel and address each aspect listed below. Take notes on your wiki for each of your meetings and save it to your group’s Wiki, noting the date and members names at the top.

**This is the reading/book discussion schedule. Be sure you have completed each part prior to the book discussion day.**

1) Part One, Monday, March 21st 2) Part Two, Thursday, March 24th 3) Part Three, Monday, March 28th 4) Afterward/Epilogue, Wednesday, March 30th

**Directions: Write your notes for every category below on your group’s wiki space. Be sure to discuss in your groups:**

· Imagery/ Symbolism Imagery is when the narrator spoke of his father having to turn two ways at once. He had to attempt to side with either his father or wife. In the end he chose to follow in his father’s career path, and takeover as sheriff.

· Character Behavior or Psychology: For Part one you **must** focus on characterization of the main characters listed below. **For each character, discuss all three modes of characterization:** You must use textual evidence for each of these three elements of characterization
 * 1. What the character says **
 * 2. What the character does **
 * 3. What others/narrator says about the character **

Sheriff of the town. when he was 16 a horse kicked him and left him with a permanent limp. He is serving second term as sheriff. His father was sheriff in the terms before him. He grew up on a cattle ranch outside Bentrock. Became sick and died of cancer. When at work, he never brings his gun with him. His wife believes he shouldn’t be sheriff and that they should move away. He wanted to open up a law practice before his dad gave him the job. “There you have it, then, a portrait of my father in those years, a man who tried to turn two ways at once – toward my grandfather, who wanted his son to continue the Hayden rule of Mercer County, and toward my mother, who wanted her husband to be merely himself and not a Hayden.” (Watson 21) 1. “My mother brought two wool blankets down from the closet shelf and spread them over Marie. ‘The first thing,’ my mother said, ‘is to bring you temperature down. We should be able to seat that out of you in no time.” Gail is a very loving, protective mother and wants to keep everyone safe 2. “my mother cleared her throat, and when she began to speak, her voice was steady and strong, but her pauses were off, as if she had started on the wrong breath. ‘the reason Marie didn’t want to be examined by Frank is that he – he has…is that your brother has molested Indian girls.’ ” Gail gets straight to the point no matter what the outcome must be. She looks out for her family and only wants what’s best. 3. “My mother worked (she was the secretary in the register of deeds office, also in the courthouse across the street” (pg24) This shows that not only is Gail a loving mother, she is also a hard worker and is determined to not be just a housewife.
 * Narrator’s Father- **
 * Narrator’s mother (Gail) **

- Indian who with the Hayden’s. - Is babysitter for David. - Her boyfriend is **Ronnie Tall Bear.** - She is the housekeeper for the Hayden’s.
 * Marie and Ronnie Tall Bear **

- One of the town’s doctors of Mercer County. - Comes to visit Marie when she is sick. - Narrator: “ And my father was, in many respects, an impressive man. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and pleasant-looking. But Frank was all this and more. He was handsome- dark, wavy hair, a jaw chiseled on such precise angles it seemed to conform to some geometric law, and he was tall and well built as my father, but with an athletic grace my father lacked.” - Witty, charming, at smiling life ease with life and everything in it. - Marie was scared to be in the same room as him - Quote by Frank: “ They’re used to being treated by the medicine man. Or some old squaw. But a doctor comes around and they think he’s the evil spirit or something.” – is racist against the Indians, like his brother - David’s parents talk after Frank leaves and they find out he has molested and raped many other Indian girls. Wes doesn’t deny anything, and David and his mother have a hard time looking at him the same way the did before. They all know that Frank is guilty. - Narrator: “Aunt Gloria was barely five feet tall, and she had silver- blond hair. She and Frank had been married five or six years but had no children.” - “Prettiest woman I have ever seen.” (Watson 34)
 * Uncle Frank (and Aunt Gloria) **
 * Uncle Frank**
 * Aunt Gloria**

He brought his family into town to live in a cramped apartment when he was serving as sheriff. He always wanted the power. He liked when he was in control and he was a dominating man. He was the old deputy and the sheriff of mercer county. He owned a ranch. He thinks family is more important than following the law. "He wanted, he needed, power ... He was a dominating man who drew sustenance and strength from controlling others." (Watson 20)
 * Grandfather- **

“what things? Ill tell you what things. Your brother makes his patients – some of his patients – undress completely and get into indecent positions. He makes them jump up and down while he watches. He fondles their breasts. He – no don’t you turn away. Don’t! you asked and im going to tell you. All of it. He puts things into these girls. Inside them, there. His instruments. His fingers. He has…your brother I believe has inserted his penis into some of these girls. Wesley, your brother is raping these women. These girls. These Indian girls. He offers his services to the reservation, to the BIA school. To the high school for athletic physicals. Then when he gets these girls where he wants them he…Oh! I don’t even want to say it again. He does what he wants to do.” (Watson 47)
 * · Interesting Passages (at least two passages, cited in proper MLA format) **

“that was when if came to me. Uncle Frank was my father’s brother, and my father knew him as well as any man or woman. And my father knew he was guilty.” (Watson 54)

· Questions/ Predictions you have: I believe that based on the prologue that the father dies and that all hell will break loose due to the fact that their own family member has been accused of certain wrong doings. I think that he will be accused because his father knows that he must follow the law yet he also knows that he has a certain amount of loyalty that he owes to his family.

A connection i have from the book was when David was talking about hunting. He says " I swam, I fished, I hunted (I still have,deep in a closet somewhere, my first gun from those years - single shot bolt action Winchester .22 and a single shot Montgomery Ward .410 Shotgun;) My friends and i have killed more beer cans, soda bottles, road signs, and telephone pole insulators than rabbits, squirrels, grouse, and pheasants." (Watson 23) I still go hunting with my family and friends. But like David said i am not just hunting animals. My mother is just like David's mother in the story. She likes to stay in a germ free environment. "If we were walking down the street and someone ahead of us coughed or sneezed, my mother slowed her pace until she thought those germs had dissipated in the air. " (Watson 27) That sentences everytime i hear it reminds me of my mother and how she likes to keep everyone sick free. But, it worked.
 * · Connections to modern life or your personal life: **

**PART TWO**
Characters Narrator's Mother (Gail): Has to face Uncle Frank at the dinner at the grandfathers house. She is not comfortable but does her best to keep calm and not show that she knows anything. Later she is devastated to find that Marie passed away when she was just recently getting better. According to Uncle Frank pneumonia can come back quick but she does not trust him and is very suspicious of how Marie actually died. "I stepped into my mother's embrace, and as I did she leaned her head against my torso in a way that made it clear I was the one offering comfort." (Watson 88) Marie - She is still sick - She spends a lot of time recovering from being raped by Uncle Frank - She died (relapsed) most likely raped again by Uncle Frank - "When I got home Marie's door was open slightly but she was sleeping, as she almost always seemed to be since she'd gotten sick."
 * Narrator’s Father**: Has to investigate things with Marie’s rape and with his brother. He knows that his brother is guilty and confronts him about his wrongdoings. When Marie is killed and David told him that he saw Uncle Frank leaving the house soon after Marie was killed then he is caught in a bad position. He knows that his brother is guilty yet he also wants to help him out because he is his brother. “My father cut me off. “Does anyone else know? Are you sure no one else saw him? Did you tell anyone else.”” (Watson 99)
 * Grandfather:** **When talking to David’s father, he had mentioned that Frank had always had a thing for Indian women. They had talked about Frank yet David’s dad held things back because he knew that David was listening. “You know Frank’s always been partial to red meat. He couldn’t have been any older than Davy when Bud caught him down in the stable with that Indian girl.” (Watson 72)**

Imagery Symbolism - The automatic gun that David gets from his grandfather is a symbol. Later in the day David has a chance to shoot his Uncle Frank. He doesn’t do it, but having the chance gives him power over another, like the way Uncle Frank had power over Marie.

"The gun was unloaded, of course, but I wondered at that moment what might happen if it weren't. And my first question wasn't, could I pull the trigger; it was, could I, from that distance, with that weapon, under those conditions - the wind, the slow of the hill - hit my target. Only after I decided probably not - an unfamiliar gun, its small caliber, my poor marksmanship - did I wonder what might happen if I killed my uncle. Would everyone's problems be solved? Would my father be relieved? Could I get away with it?" (Watson 84) "That night I thought I felt death in our house. Grandmother Hayden, a superstitious person, once told me about how, when she was a girl, her brother died and for days after, death lingered in the house. Her brother was trampled by a team of horses, and his blood-and-dirt-streaked body was laid on the kitchen table. From then until the day he was buried my grandmother said she could tell there was another presence in the house. It was nothing she could see, she said, but every time you entered a room it felt as though someone brushed by you as you went in. Every door seemed to require a bit more effort to open and close. There always seemed to be a sound - a whisper - on the edge of your hearing, something you couldn't quite make out." (Watson 95)
 * Interesting Passages **


 * Question/Predictions you have:** I believe that Len did see Frank leaving the house soon after Marie had died. This means that others know and their family cannot keep it a secret. David’s dad does not want to have to get his own family in trouble with the law but he knows he is guilty.

__**• Connections to modern life or your personal life:**__

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"That was one of my fathers rules: no on was supposed to swear in front of my mother and me" (watson 40) I believe that this is a connection to modern day life. I see people all the time swear in front of there kids. I believe it puts a bad influence on the children. So after the father yelling at Uncle Frank to not swear in front of mother and dave shows that his family is a well respected family. I never swear in front of my brother so he doesn't say or repeat that word.======

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"I was afraid i would give myself away by blushing or failing to react the way i should" (Watson 54). Everyday this happens to people in modern time. They know something bad that recently happened and their friend or family member was involved. What David is going through is really hard because he doesn't know if he should say something to his parents. If i was in his situation i would have no clue what to do======

**Part 3**
Characters Narrators Father: He is in a tough position because due to his investigations he now knows that his brother has raped many Indian women while he was "working". He also is aware that he raped and killed Marie. He is the sheriff in the town and this is his job yet at the same time this is his brother. He knows what is morally right and he knows that Frank cannot just be let go for murder. Narrators Mother (gail) – She comes home to find that Uncle Frank has been arrested and locked in her basement. Gail is not happy about having a murderer locked in her house but she understands why her husband does it. Once the grandparents arrive, Gail is the peace maker trying the calm down everyone in the house. Grandpa and grandma are upset that their son locked up their other son for a crime they believe is not a big deal. One day, David and Gail were the only ones home and they noticed a truck circling the house. Gail took the backdoor while David took the front. She sent David to get his father while she guarded the house with a gun. While David was out she shot the gun to scare the men away. When the father returns she tells him she wants him to let Frank go and she doesn’t want her family to be ripped apart or afraid for their lives. Marie- She is currently dead and did not have much action lately. The grandfather- He believes that because his son is the sheriff that he can do what he may please and bed things the way he wants. He also does not believe that Frank killed or raped anyone. He is completely enraged that Wes would lock his own brother up and accuse him of things "he did not do". He thinks that Wes is just jealous of Frank and this is his way of getting back at him. He sends those who work for him down to try to let Frank free. He is no longer allowed in Wes' house after he freaked out on him. Interesting Passages “Oh, yes I do. Yes. I most certainly do mean that. Let him go. Get him out of here. Then I won’t have to walk around my own house thinking I hear him breathing down there. I wont have to worry about him breaking out – bursting into the kitchen like, like…like I don’t know what. A crazy man! And I wont have to worry about strange men breaking in to break him out. I won’t worry about my son, whether I should keep him close to me or as far from the house as possible. I wont wonder when men come threatening if David should pick up the gun to drive them away or if I should. But at least I know I can shoot the thing now. So, yes. I mean it. Let him go. Let him do whatever he wants to do to whomever he wants. I don’t care anymore. I just want my house back. I want my family safe.” (Watson 143) “Uncle Frank lay on the floor, his head cradled against my father’s chest. The gash across Uncle Frank’s wrist had already started its useless healing: the edges of the wound had begun to blacken and congeal. I could see only his right arm, but I knew the cut there was one matching set

Imagery/Symbolism

Marie's body needs to be buried in a different state so, David and his family can't go to the burial. The family is very sad that they can't go see there friend that stayed with them for such a long time. A lot of people deal with problems in different ways. People punch wholes threw walls, pick on someone, stay quiet about it, but others think it is right to take your own life. That is exactly what happen to frank. He thought it was the right thing to kill himself. People everyday kill themselves thinking its the right thing to do. Also when david's dad found uncle frank in the basement dead they tried to cover it up. the reason for that was for him to go out with a good reputation. Lots of people today try to fake something for a good rep. It not always death, but like other things to make themselves look good or get out of trouble.
 * Connections to Modern Life**

__**Conclusion**__