Romance
The whole class 7A wanted to find something meaningful to prove Pierre Anthon wrong. Some of them went from house to house “asking if they could have anything that meant something.” Some doors were slammed in their faces, but they were also given “the most wondrous things.” For instance, they were given “a single red rose from a bridal bouquet, thirty-six years old.” The rose made girls “somewhat fainthearted”, because it was really something that mattered. That was a symbol of their “white bridal dream with the wedding bouquet” and a kiss from the man who was to be theirs “forever.” The irony was that the lady who gave them a single red rose from her bridal bouquet was divorced.
No better
Agnes knew that it was her turn to give up something she treasured most. The girl’s fondness of her “sandals” wasn’t a secret, so it was no wonder her classmates ordered her to take them off. Agnes wasn’t going to give up just yet, so she tried to persuade them. “You think you’re any better than the rest of us?” cried Sebastian. The irony was that Agnes did think that she was at least a little bit better. The girl was as pitiless as her classmates. Just like the rest of them, she wasn’t moved looking at her classmates giving up their books, a soccer ball, earrings, and whatnot. However, when it was her turn to give something meaningful away, she quickly forgot about her own mercilessness.
Importance of education
As soon as they were finished digging, “the little coffin had been put out onto the gravel path.” It looked “abandoned and so awfully sad,” but they didn’t have time to think about it, for “there was another problem.” Though the boys had shoveled “all the earth they’d dug up back into the grave,” the hole was still “only three-quarters full.” It was “a law of physics” they “had never learned.” The terrible irony of the situation was that those kids had time to do all those horrible things, but didn’t have time to open their textbooks and concentrate on more important issues.
