Englisch Abitur: Crooked Letter Crooked Letter - Friendship and Belonging

In this video, I will be discussing which role "friendship" and "belonging" play in Tom Franklin's novel. As a basic human need, belonging is something everyone strives for and, aside from "family", friendship surely is one of the most important means of achieving belonging. In the lives of Franklin's two main characters, friendship and belonging are as central as can be expected but, while Silas takes his relationships for granted, Larry ends up having to fight for each and every one of them. This will in the end, lead him to his dangerous friendship with Wallace...
Here's a link to the two previous videos on CLCL:
Topics overview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCK-k...
Basics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxomo...
Responsibility: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG8jE...
Guilt and Penance: • Englisch Abitur: Crook...
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[@Lena-ck7ps]

„The funny thing is, the only thing he belongs to… well that‘s not funny….are his chickens“😂😂😅😂

[@jknotrowling247]

Bei Gott das schreib ich morgen wenns geht

[@mohammedmansour1644]

I want to thank you for all the videos you have done to crooked letter. You did an amazing job, keep that up.

[@seko6416]

I really respect your grind towards the beginning of our exams. Very helpful videos, thank you!

[@englishotp9456]

Best of luck to you!

[@evitaschlosser1380]

I will write my English Abitur on Monday, I did not know what to learn anymore and then I saw your videos. They made me think about some new aspects we had not talked about before in class, so, thanks! Hopefully I‘m a little more prepared now☺️

[@englishotp9456]

Dear Evita, I'm glad that the videos helped you! It is never possible to understand all the facets of a novel but, I think, the more we talk about it the better all things come together. I will make another video now. Maybe you would like to check that one out, too. I'm sure it will help you to further connect those points that are already in your head. All the best for you on Monday!

[@evitaschlosser1380]

@@englishotp9456 thank you☺️

[@highlanderpvp2636]

Hey I‘m from Germany, and tomorrow I have to write the „Abitur“ which is the highest educational qualification in Germany. You helped me really really much thanks man

[@englishotp9456]

Best of luck! Rock it tomorrow!

[@elia974]

You said that Silas changes his view of friendship. But I think Larry changes his view of friendship as well. After Silas told that he was the last person who saw Cindy, Larry realizes that he always had a wrong definition of friendship. That ist why he decides to no longer protect Wallace and to tell the truth about him which is shown on page 220: "Maybe Larry was wrong about the word friend..."

[@englishotp9456]

That's a very good point! Larry definitely changes his view as well. For Larry, a friend used to be anyone who spends time with him - he couldn't afford to be picky. Through Wallace and Silas, however, he finds out that there is more to being a friend than that. Friends should have your best interests at heart. That's is something that Larry painfully has to realise he has never had but maybe will now possibly have with Silas?! Silas on the other hand realises he has had friends but has never been a friend. It's sort of Larry reversed :) Great thought!

[@juloom3118]

Ehrlich unglaublich gutes Video 💪👍. Das so Uncut vorzutragen auf dem hohen inhaltlichn Niveau können nicht viele. Wirklich Fette Props.👏👏👏👏

[@englishotp9456]

Thank you for that amazing compliment! Glad it helped :)

[@youngstar0869]

küss dein Herz Montag Abi

[@englishotp9456]

All the best!

[@arianamaghet7986]

Life saver. Thank you so much.

[@englishotp9456]

Glad it helped! All the best for tomorrow :)

[@with_the_power_of_weirdnes216]

thank you for the deep insight, not only did you mention things i have never thought about, the way you talk about just shows that you personally really liked this book,too. well, it is a great book : )

[@meliew4692]

this is literally one of the best summary I've seen！！ thxxxxx

[@englishotp9456]

Thank you!

[@arimorgenstern1655]

Awesome video, thanks a lot!

[@englishotp9456]

You're welcome! All the best for tomorrow :)

[@han-1301]

thank you for all your videos! kinda sad you stopped uploading, since I just found you and really enjoy your videos! They are helping me a lot and I like how you explain everything in detail, great work!! Again, Thank You! :)

[@englishotp9456]

You're welcome :)

[@nepomuk748]

such a great video! Thank you so much

[@englishotp9456]

You're welcome :)

[@dieseana]

Writing my Abitur tomorrow and this really helped me so thank you so much!

[@englishotp9456]

You're welcome and all the best to you!

[@dieseana]

@@englishotp9456 thank you!!

[@tristan7720]

Danke dir, hab morgen ein Exam und die Videos helfen unglaublich sich nochmal an alles zu erinnern

[@englishotp9456]

You're welcome, dear Tristan!

[@azab3970]

Thank you

[@englishotp9456]

You're welcome! Good luck today :)

[@nikolaydzhurbinev2622]

Abi in 1h danke nochmal

[@felixleyh4784]

Good vids, they help a lot

[@englishotp9456]

Glad to hear :)

[@lotic7189]

Thanks bro helped me a lot

[@jonasmuller9164]

Nice Video👍

[@hanneskessel8018]

In 90 min gehts los yeah

[@englishotp9456]

Hope it went well!

[@feyo1200]

I am writing a comment on friendship with Silas and Larry, maybe you could tell me more about the friendship between Larry and Silas. And would the friendship still break up if Carl ott didn’t end the friendship? Thank you

[@englishotp9456]

hey, not sure whether you still need an answer to this but here goes: Larry and Silas' friendship has two phases - the one when they are young and the one that starts at the end of the novel. I think you would like to know about the first. Larry and Silas' friendship is a very special one - one that would probably not work if they did not have this, let's call it 'neutral space' - in the forest. It is only here that they can meet completely free from any social and racial restraints. Anywhere else, at school, in town, or at any of their homes, this is not possible. What is more, when Silas first moves to Chabbot, he doesn't know anyone. As he gets to know more people at school and develops into a good baseball player, he starts hanging out with the cool kids - a group of mostly black students, which Larry would never be able to become a part of. So, on the whole, I think the friendship would've disbanded in any case. However, the break-up as it is accelerated by Carl is important for the plot overall. Kind regards :)

[@inesh1443]

You already mentioned wallace in the video as an absolutely not friendly person. In the end we know he is responsible for the crimes in the present, but why did he do this. Honestly I cannot think of something reasonable. Is he kind of a product of his past, where he lived in bad conditions and was a drug addict? Or was Larry a role model to him and therefore he killed Tina because he thought Larry killed Cindy? But how is M&M connected to the crimes? Did he do something to Wallace? I'm not really into every single scene of the book anymore, I did not reread it, so I don't know if I just forgot an important scene where this is mentioned or just mixed something up, but can you please explain this to me? It would really help me a lot!!

[@inesh1443]

@@nicomemer8609 thanks for your response! I definitely will:)

[@englishotp9456]

Dear Ines, thank you for your comment, which is really thoughtful! First of all, we need to rid ourselves of the illusion that we could ever fully understand why a person would commit such an atrocious crime. In CLCL, we do not get a direct insight into Wallace since, although we have a third person narrator, we have figural focalization! --> This means we get insight into Larry and Silas, not however into ANY of the other characters. That is why the picture we get of Wallace is fractured and full of wholes. What we do know of him is mostly mediated through Larry. Nico has already pointed out that I do talk about Wallace just a tiny bit in my video on responsibility and, although I would not claim that Wallace's surroundings are completely responsible for his behaviour (we always have a choice!), I think we cannot leave the neglect and the ill-treatment he suffers as a child out of the equation here. After all, studies in sociology have proven that violence is something that is passed on from parents to children: if you experience violence in your childhood, you are much more likely to become violent yourself. What is more, I think the dogs Wallace owns are a symbol for him in that way. They are all neglected and violent and then die an unnatural death. I believe that the dogs are a reflection of Wallace and his social milieu (compare p. 160 in chapter 9). hope this helps and all the best for tomorrow!

[@marengodejohann6014]

Does Larry belong to his working place? Maby because it connects him in one way to his dad :)

[@englishotp9456]

Dear Maren, that's not a bad thought! I think you're right there. Larry's father is the one person he has always tried to impress most and also the person who hurt him most. As Carl never accepts Larry and thinks he is a wimp with two left hands it might seem strange that Larry decides to become a mechanic - BUT it could also be a natural decision to want to prove himself to his dad; to show he has erred; that Larry is, after all, a son he could be (or at least could have been) proud of. In that way, Larry at least wants to belong to the shop just as much as he wants to belong to his father. It is a part of his identity that might not have come natural to him but that he has actively chosen and which means a lot to him. What a great thought, dear Maren - thank you for that!

[@marengodejohann6014]

@@englishotp9456 thanks for your answer :)

[@emilyve]

Did Silas sleep with that girl? I do not think so actually

[@englishotp9456]

Hey Emilyve :) If you are talking about Cindy, then, yes, I do think that they slept with each other. Though it is not definitely mentioned in the narrative, Silas' statement that he thinks she wasn't pregnant seems to suggest that they must have had sex at least once. What difference would you think it would make if the hadn't