Christopher Paul Curtis's Bud, Not Buddy: Rules to Survive and Thrive

Ms 2 Kingsley Bailey Class: 604 March 25, 2015.

In the novel Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis. The book talks about a young boy named Bud Caldwell, who has been an orphan since he was six; he also had runs away after being abused in a foster home. He sets out to find his father, a man named Herman E. Calloway, a bandleader in Michigan during the Depression. He has many adventures along the way and learns many lessons he can take with him on his mission to find his father, he had created a few rules to help others learn how to survive on their own, and I strongly believe he used rules #3, #8 and#16 to survive. In rule #3, which states “If you got to tell a lie, make sure it's simple and easy to remember.” This rule means when telling a lie it is vital to keep it simple so that it can be remembered and you won't contradict yourself later on and therefore show that you have lied. It is this ability that Todd demonstrates to his mother, when he was beating up Bud and his mother saw that Todd was kicking Bud while Bud was on the floor, so he lied and say he was trying to wake him up to go to the bathroom/lavatory and that he had ‘bed wetter’ written all over him.
In rule #8, which states, “Whenever an adult tells you to listen carefully and talks to you in a real calm voice do not listen, run as fast as you can because something real terrible is just around the corner. Especially if the cops are chasing you.” This rule means if an adult tells you to listen carefully and he is talk to you in a calm voice, don’t listen just run cause if you do your going to be shocked when the adult finish talking to you. This rule had been demonstrated by Lefty Lewis, when he was driving Bud to Grand Rapids house, and a police officer had stop them and bud had to listen carefully to the directions Lefty Lewis was giving him. In rule #16, which states “If a grown-up ever starts a sentence by saying "Haven't you heard," get ready, 'cause what's about to come out of their mouth is gonna drop you headfirst into a boiling tragedy.” This rule means if an adult talks to you by saying “Haven’t you Heard,” you better hurry up and leave or try not to be shocked of what you’re going to hear, for example if you are looking for someone and you ask an adult if they know where a the person your look for is and the grown-up says, “Haven’t you heard,” that person died in an car accident. This rule had been demonstrated when Bud asked the Librarian for Miss Hill.
In conclusion, these rules did help Bud to survive, also all of these rules Bud use did helped him on his journey to find a mystery man name Herman E. Calloway.