One of the main characters, Denver Moore, is black. Ron Hall and most of the other characters are white. The interactions between Denver and other characters provide insight into how blacks were treated at this time in America, even if race was not specifically talked about in the book. Denver and his family were sharecroppers. It was referred to as modern day slavery because they were so in debt they did not have freedom anymore. Most of the black people mentioned in this book were illiterate. As a result, any part of the book written by Denver did not have proper grammar. Ron Hall’s writing, however, was perfect. This shows the difference in their upbringing. They both started out poor, but Ron was able to move beyond his debt, while Denver was caught in one big trap. Denver did not have the best relationship with white people when he was younger. The only white person he liked was this boy his age, but Denver ended up being moved to a new farm. All the stories Denver was told and experienced about white people involved violence. Some white schoolboys did not like the black schoolboys walking on the same path as them, even though it was a later time. They ambushed the black schoolboys with sticks and old pieces of wood. When Denver was a teenager, he saw a white woman who was having car problems. Denver offered to help, but some white boys drove by and decided that Denver …show more content…
The characters in this book went to a Baptist church and a Methodist church. Denver started out in Louisiana, which is a primarily Baptist state. He had one pastor on the plantation who grew up in. Ron Hall grew up in Texas, which is also primarily Baptist. The college that he and Deborah went to had a Baptist majority, but neither of them were very religious. Ron and Deborah Hall were recruited by some friends to come to a bible study. They eventually ended up going to a Methodist church. Methodist churches are known for putting most of their effort into discipleship. The mission they joined focused on eradicating homelessness. This is where they met Denver. As Deborah is diagnosed with cancer, the reader can see how close their church family