johnny tremain - complex character - controlled anger: NEED BY 9/4-5/13

Johnny is good-natured, hard-working, and well-liked, but he is also haughty and rude at times. Johnny must learn to control his temper if he is to progress in life without making enemies,

"If he had not counted ten, he would have told her what he thought of her, black folk in general, and thrown in a few cutting remarks about her master––the most powerful man in Boston. But counting ten had its rewards." Narrator, Page 109

A benefit of Johnny's job as a delivery boy, for example, is that he learns patience and to think before he speaks. This is partly due to the influence of Rab, who suggests that Johnny shouldn't go out of his way to sow bad feelings. This quote shows a practical strategy to avoid losing one's temper that young readers might use in their own lives. The racism is also important to keep in mind. Although this attitude is not acceptable today, it was common among white people in the eighteenth century.