Question A

[Jonetta]

Richard Dennis lived a life completely disconnected from the have nots. What did you think of his reaction to the ride on the El and the visit to the mission? Was his attitude representative of the “haves?”

[Phrynne]

I am sure it was typical of the "haves". After all he would have never needed to do those things in his normal everyday life!

[Jonetta]

He and his other wealthy counterparts live surrounded by poverty and others in despair (they are literally only a few blocks away) but manage to not see it on a daily basis. They are invisible. I think he was very typical of those in his world with only a few exceptions. Ironically, I saw the same phenomenon when I lived in NYC for two years some time ago.

[Charlene]

I think you are both right. Although I'm no way near well off, I'm sure I do not see people who are invisible to me. It is unsettling, even if I'm reading fiction like this.

Good on the author!

[Lauren]

I agree that the majority of the wealthy at that time and even today are oblivious to those living in poverty and squalor. Not only are the poor invisible, but people don't actually want to see them because they a) feel guilty for their own financial and social security and/or b) they feel threatened in the sense that they too could have been born in these circumstances or fallen into them for whatever reason.

I think that Richard's eyes were opened and he could no longer refuse to see what was right in front of him all along.

[Jonetta]

I wasn’t sure if Richard was forever opened, wondering if he’d block it out of his mind and go back to his world.

[Lauren]

Jonetta wrote: "I wasn’t sure if Richard was forever opened, wondering if he’d block it out of his mind and go back to his world."

Perhaps he would have, unfortunately, Thompson killed him off before we could find out :|