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1. What effect does the author present by mentioning Russ’s “humiliation” in the early pages of the book, but not explaining what happened for several hundred pages into the reading?

This sets the scene of Russ’s humiliation on the first mission trip of the teens to Arizona. By mentioning the humiliating scene and not detailing it, this allows the humiliating situation of Russ on the bus to be told from different perspectives or Russ, Clem and other characters in the story. It creates a feeling of foreboding, that something bad is going to happen to Russ, but the reader does not know for several sections what humiliating event occurred and how it affected all of the characters in the novel.

2. Why does Russ feel justified to begin an affair with the widow Frances Cottrell?

Russ feels he has joyless marriage with Marion. He blames Marion for everything that is going wrong in his life. He feels that the children are out of control, and that it is her fault as the mother to control the children and discipline them. He decides that he deserves to be with someone who will bring him “joy,” and that person is the widow, Frances Cottrell. Frances is beautiful, young and seems willing to succumb to Russ if he continues to pursue her.

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