h attention away from her son.The two characters help each other develop throughout the story. Fenstad is a person who is very reluctant to change, whereas his mother is an individual whose mind is always open to new possibilities. It did not surprise me that Mrs. Fenstad and York Follette, a student in Fenstads class, instantly become friends. Follette is a different person: he is African American, he thinks on a different political plane, he listens to music that Mrs. Fenstad is not all to familiar with. Mrs. Fenstad says that she wants to meet Follette after hearing about him from Fenstad. In my imagination (because there is only one scene when Mrs. Fenstad and Follette have any actual dialogue), Follette probably thought he could learn as much from Mrs. Fenstad as she could learn from him.One of the scenes where it is evident how unlike the two main characters are is when they are at Country Bobs, a restaurant. A homeless woman comes up to the two and asks if they can spare any change. Mrs. Fenstad instantly feels compassion for the woman and offers her the coat that she is wearing. Fenstad is almost appalled by the audacity of the homeless woman and by his mothers action. He begs his mother not to give her coat to the woman. It is obvious that he is very uncomfortable and disturbed by the situation. He sees his mothers generosity and realizes that that is something he innately lacks. He shoves two twenty dollar bills into the homeless womans hand as he pleads with her to leave. Fenstad seems to feel disgusted by this woman rather than sorry for her. His mother, on the other hand, sees a person in need, and she wants to do what she can to help. She sacrifices her own comfort and warmth to give those same feelings to another human being. Fenstad is not selfish, but more like most of the people of the world; he thinks of himself before he thinks of the well-being of others. Even though the two characters are very diff...
