Chapters Three and Four Summary and Analysis

In Chapter Three, Damien writes that when he was in the second grade, his family lived in a brick building that they had rented from one of his grandmother's friends. There was not even any heat in the building. Damien remembers that year as being one of the poorest that the family had ever lived through. He remembers the excitement when different religious groups brought the family Christmas boxes and baskets. His mother was grateful while his father was embarrassed that he was not able to support his own family. At the time, Damien had thought it was probably the stress of being so poor that caused his mother and father's marriage to break up. Although Damien had at one time also been embarrassed to be poor, he realizes that the people who looked down...