James' father is drafted into the early part of World War 2. This leaves James' mother to raise the children and support the entire family. In effect the family has very little money. The family doesn't own a car and barely has money to ride the bus to town.

At times it seems as if James is starving. His clothes don't even keep him warm in the cold. Times are hard for the family when

Taking the portion of meat that the woman offered would have saved the family some money. Another example of how Octavia's pride costs the family money occurs in the cafe. Octavia and James are walking in the cold waiting on James to go to the dentist. They step into the cafe to warm up. Octavia feels that she is obligated to make a purchase at the cafe because she is using their heat. This puts a dent in the family's finances and makes life a little more rough for James.

James' mother, Octavia, is a very proud woman. Her pride has an effect on James' life. She does not accept any form of charity. An old woman offers Octavia and James some food, but Octavia declines the offer until James does some chores for the woman. James had to work instead of getting a free meal because his mother would not let him accept c

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 558
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)