Genius

The first theme of this novel is the definition of genius. In the opening section of the novel, Shirley Piper calls Yolanda a genius. Before Yolanda can agree or disagree with her, she wants to be sure that she understands the exact definition of the word. At the library, she pages through the dictionary and reads the various definitions for the word, but none really strike her as truthful, until she reads John Hersey's definition: "True genius rearranges old material in a way never seen before" (Page 37). Although Yolanda is undeniably intelligent, all she does is retain information and recite it upon command. She recognizes that she is not the real genius in the family, her younger brother Andrew is. Andrew has the unique ability to listen to the various sounds in the world and recreate them with his harmonica, or other instruments. Andrew doesn't simply create sound...