Chapter Questions- 1

1. The story begins with Joseph attending a funeral. What feelings and emotions is he experiencing?

Joseph may be feeling are of guilt, sorrow, loss and regret. The feelings would have also been strong as he was sitting in the front row which means it was probably someone close to him. (pg 1)

2. As Joseph tries to work out the chain of events that has brought him there, he finds himself thinking of silkworms. Why?

He finds himself thinking of silkworms as around that time he couldn't help himself and he realised that 'trying to unravel the tangled threads of the past was like unwinding the silk from a silkworm cocoon'. (pg 3) He was relating his complicated past to that of the untangling of silk in a silkworm cocoon.

3. When he recalls the recent past, Joseph sees the faces of three men. Who are they and what feature of each man's face is highlighted?

The three men are his father, who looked 'bewildered, hurt and angry' (pg 3), Tom Leyton, whose face was 'silent as stone' (pg 3) and the Running Man whose eyes were 'burning with a desperate fire' (pg 3).

4. The chapter ends with an image of Joseph's neighbours' house. What similie is used to describe it? What effect does it create?

The similie used to describe the house is 'perched high on its black timber stumps like some long-legged creature waiting in the shadows'. (pg 4) It creates an effect so that the house sounds sort of creepy and mysterious like something is hiding behind you, hoping not to be seen.