he chapter in the book when Toby and his mother go to Alkai Point to watch the mock naval battle and they run into the two men. They had left Roy not long before that and moved to Seattle so they could escape him again. This must have worked, finally, because Roy does not try to find them for the rest of the story. This chapter is not used in the film and probably could have been omitted from the book, but it described even more the willingness of Rosemary to fall into any relationship that came her way. Toby seems to be jealous of these men giving his mother their attention and when they notice this they channel most of their attention on him. As the reader you automatically know what these guys are after, not the love for a boy or his favorite hobbies, but after the mother who just happens to be with him. And by acting like they are interested in Toby, they deceive Rosemary into thinking they are just nice guys. Eventually Rosemary gives in and meets with them that night and the outcome is very similar to her relationship with Roy. She comes home crying, feeling used, and taken advantage of. Moving forward very quickly, like the movie does. Rosemary is very quick to find someone new to be involved with, in comes Dwight. Dwight’s character is portrayed very well in both the film and the book. Toby still does not have a father figure in his life and you can sense Rosemary’s urgency about getting one for him. Toby has now become a real troublemaker at school and on the streets. Wolff describes times when he and his friends would slam bikes into cars and steal and cause various problems. These are normal things for kids to do but some of those instances may have been a little extreme. Rosemary does not feel that Toby is a bad kid, even though she hears that he is a troublemaker, but she desperately wants him to have a father figure in his life. She is reluctant at first that Dwight would be the one to fill th...
