Page 85

By Jack Joseph Smith

came over me to draw the line as streight as possible, and he had not given me a ruler. When I had finished I realized what he meant by his continual statement, never tell a lie. A simple statement, but so exact in my mind as I moved second to second along the paper. After I had finished, I passed the paper back across the table to him, and he looked at me and said, you may go now Michael. Thank you father. I rose and walked out of the rectory thinking, that for awhile anyway, I wouldn't give the black and white, and nothing else nun, too much trouble. The year went by quick, and I was away from Daniel for the summer, because we drove across the country to California. The only thing I remember was seeing Indians in a slum desert, and spending the whole of my summer alowance on a five feet high totem pole I had insisted on buying. When we were leaving the Indian's shop he came to me and placed an old wooden carved charm snake whip around the neck of the totem pole, and explained to me that it was used during the snake dance by the witchdoctor to prevent the intrusion of the evil devil into the lives of their children. When we returned to Mount Lebanon, I put the totem pole with the snake whip around its neck in my room, and prayed to it as a false god the day I decided to stop burning fires on the hill. It was in the winter time of my last year at Saint Bernards, that Father Lawnegan saved Davids life. It happened on a day toward the end of a very strong week. A few days before, Papa Joe had told two cops to get the hell off his playground and quick, when they had pulled their car up to the iron chain and walked across the playground in search of a young boy called Tank, who was accused of arson. The boys playing went silent, when they heard his voice ring out over the yard. His arm was raised over the ice with his finger pointed directly at the cops

Original Scan

Page 85

AI Interpretation

GPT

Michael completes the priest's line exercise and brings a totem pole and snake whip home from California. He announces that Father Lawnegan saved David's life and opens the account with Papa Joe ordering police off the playground.

Michael understands the command against lying through drawing a line without a ruler. He prays to his purchased idol on the day he gives up the hill fires. He introduces David's rescue and recounts an earlier confrontation: Papa Joe points at two officers seeking Tank, and the boys fall silent.

Claude

Michael finishes drawing the line 'as streight as possible' without a ruler, grasps what Father meant by 'never tell a lie', and leaves resolved not to trouble 'the black and white, and nothing else nun' for a while. A summer trip to California yields a 'five feet high totem pole' with a charm snake whip that he later prays to 'as a false god', and the page turns to the winter when Father Lawnegan 'saved Davids life', beginning with Papa Joe ordering 'two cops to get the hell off his playground'.

The page moves quickly from a private moral lesson to a private idol, as if the boy keeps trading one form of devotion for another. The totem pole and the 'witchdoctor' charm sit uneasily beside the church, and his vow to stop 'burning fires on the hill' ties the idol to a real renunciation. The closing image of Papa Joe's raised arm over the ice sets up the priest as a figure of authority that even the police must obey.