Once again, I am leading a book study. This time the book is Jim Sano's novel "Self Portrait", the 3rd 4th book in the Fr. Tom series. It is a mini-book study over 4 evenings - Feb. 13th, Feb. 20th, March 5th, and March 19th - covering 8 chapters during each meeting.
To help us with our discussions, I came up with questions for us to reflect on and prepare to share during the meeting. The questions are:
- Which character struck you the most in the chapter? Why?
- Which character reminds you of yourself or someone you know? How?
- Do you empathize or sympathize with any of the characters in the chapter? Which one? Why?
- Were there any teachings or references to the Catholic faith that you picked up in the chapter? If yes, what is it and what were your thoughts?
- What do you find most compelling about the chapter? Why?
Below are my thoughts on chapters 20, 21, 22, 23.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Which character struck you the most in the chapters? Why?
Billy because he is faced with quite the dilemma after he figured out that Sean was the mastermind behind the heist in an effort to get the insurance money to pay for Mary's surgery. Also, in Chapter 21, Sean is shot while he and Billy responded to a robbery at a convenience store. As Sean is laying there in his own blood, Billy gets flashbacks of the time when he discovered his son, Patrick, laying in the pool of his own blood. Fr. Tom provides insight into what Billy was experiencing, saying: "Present suffering touches past suffering, making everything worse" (p. 128-129).
In Chapter 22, Billy reveals the burden that he had been carrying with him all this life. First, he felt that he was not there for his mom. Then, he was not there for his brother, Jimmy. Finally, he was not there for his son, Patrick. He is determined to be there for Mary no matter what. Because of this, Billy was at peace with accepting the money to get Mary the surgery that she needed to live. He shares this with Sean who is ecstatic because he wants to save Mary as well.
Which character reminds you of yourself or someone you know? How?
Kenny Green wanted to help Sean because he benefited him and would also benefit a complete stranger - Mary. He was willing to take a bullet if it meant him having a chance to rise above his current situation. I think in many ways we can all relate to Kenny and what he desires in life.
Do you empathize or sympathize with any of the characters in the chapters? Which one? Why?
It would have to be Sean. He sees Billy and Mary as his parents. He caught himself from calling Mary "mother" (p. 118) during his conversation with Billy. He saw how tormented Billy was at the prospect of life without Mary if she did not get the surgery. Sean told Billy many times that he would do anything to save Mary and so he set his plan in motion and it involved Kenny Green, Reggie Hope, Dougie Jones, and Reggie's nephew, Tobey.
In Chapter 22, Mary pleads with Billy to stop blaming himself for their son's death. She tells him to go talk with Fr. Tom, who is a trained psychologist. Mary pleads with Billy, saying: "I need you" (p. 130).
Were there any teachings or references to the Catholic faith that you picked up in the chapter? If yes, what is it and what were your thoughts?
Billy received a call from Kenny Green offering him $500,000 of the reward money from the insurance company to help Mary get the surgery she needed. However, he has to discern if this is of God or not of God, thinking to himself: "If God was answering his prayer, why didn't he trust his way of providing that answer? What else could it have looked like?" (p. 117)
In Chapter 21, Billy is conflicted. On the one hand, he wants to Mary to have the surgery and get better; however, on the other hand, he goes to Confession and knows that the end does not justify the means.
What do you find most compelling about the chapters? Why?
Chapter 20 is the turning point of the novel, I believe, because it is revealed that Sean is the mastermind behind the whole heist of the Rembrandt painting. Billy figured it out and confronted Sean about it and Sean confessed. However, what is most compelling is, Sean did the wrong thing for the right reasons - his love Billy and Mary and for Mary to get the surgery that she needs. What is even more compelling is, it is Billy who probably pushed Sean into action because he could not bear to live life without Mary.
In Chapter 22, we learn from Sean that Kenny Green knew Patrick (p. 133). Both Kenny and Patrick were forced into participating in criminal activities by Kenny's older brother, Kyle, including a drive-shooting death of a rival gang leader. [Could this be the shooting incident that occurred in "Gus Busbi" in which Jamiel was shot?] Moreover, Fr. Tom tells Billy that he knows what it is like to lose someone he loved in life to suicide (alluding to "The Father's Son").
Previous chapter(s):
Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16 https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/02/lenten-book-study-self-portrait_28.html
Chapters 17, 18, 19 https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/03/lenten-book-study-self-portrait.html
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