The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963- Ch 13

The lake incident appears to have a profound effect on Byron, too, even though he is not the one who nearly loses his life. This is the first time Byron has shown signs of true affection and compassion for his little brother; we have seen him display strong feelings once before, but his feelings were for a dead bird. Byron truly does care about Kenny, but he only realizes the depth of his attachment when it is nearly too late. He feels somewhat responsible for the incident, too, since he knew that Kenny was going to the forbidden area but made no serious attempts to stop him or supervise him. The trip to Alabama is already changing Byron in profound ways -- exactly as it was intended to do.