Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Racism

The major crisis of the book is the bombing at the church in Birmingham. We learn later that some white men set off the bomb in the church because they were angry about the Birmingham schools being integrated (meaning that white and African American students would attend the same schools). The toughest challenge Kenny faces is coming to terms with what he sees in the church, and that goes back to racism. When Kenny decides in the end to keep living in spite of what happened, he decides not to let racism win.