Family is a very prevalent theme throughout this part of the reading. Wether it be about his pregnant wife, Rita, or his brother, Dane, Chris displays his respect for family. First, we start out reading about Rita and the unborn chid. Chris is very avid about wanting his firstborn to be a boy since he is the "firstborn of a firstborn of a firstborn". He is very nervous about having the baby, not so much about the actual birth, but about raising it. When he talks about the chance of Rita dying through giving birth, he is selfish about it because it seems the main reason he is scared is about raising the child alone. It seems a big difference between mothers and fathers is that men are more nervous about raising or messing up a child and women are just ready to have the baby and don't see that as an issue.
We also learn more about Dane in this part of the book. Dane and Chris undergo many problems over the years that result in long periods without speaking. I think they suffer the classic jealousy issue than many siblings, and especially siblings of the same gender have. Dane is younger and gets his act together long before Chris does, and Dane is annoyed by that. Chris doesn't fully understand why Dane gets so upset with him and thinks it is because his parents loved the firstborn more, but I think it is because Dane may be upset about never having that role model older brother to look up to.
Quote I really liked: "I felt full of myself, like a sock puppet inside out."
Vocabulary Words:
Hodad (pg 121): a nonsurfer who spends time at beaches masquerading as a surfer.
Grubstake (pg 146): provisions, gear, etc., furnished to a prospector on conditionof participating in the profits of any discoveries.
Sextant (pg 115): an astronomical instrument used to determine latitude andlongitude at sea by measuring angular distances, especiallythe altitudes of sun, moon, and stars.
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