I didn't understand why the father fired Judd at the end of the story, it wasn't his fault on what happened to the boys. I think the boys died in the barn and that they froze to death. This is what i thought happened. Judd was with the father in town so i don't see how Judd could have prevented this from happening. If this is solely on the fact that Judd's blanket wasn't around than that is pathetic. The Stepmoter is the one that didn't do a good job parenting. The one boy mentioned that he couldn't find his gloves i think and she told him not to worry about it and to just go before their dad would get mad. She should have made sure they were atleast warm and had the stuff to keep warm. She seemed like she didn't want to be bothered my the kids and just wanted them to go. She won't be bothered anymore by them. They were cuddled up together to keep warm and that is how they were found, if they would have had something to keep them warm they would have awaken the following morning.
Posted by ScottClark at April 26, 2005 02:17 PM | TrackBackScott, there's foreshadowing of the stepmother's intent in the very first paragraph of the story. As far as Judd goes, its very possible that the father needed somebody to blame for his loss, and very clearly, it wasn't going to be himself or even his wife.
Posted by: Neha at May 2, 2005 11:37 AM