Response to Mitchell

Mitchell, I love the connection you made on page 303. The symbol of renewal for Rudy is not a major deal, like a new found resolution to world hunger or something, but Rudy has been after a kiss from Liesel for a while, and saving one of the things that means a lot to her definitely is a way for Rudy to bargain. When you connected the water Rudy stood in to a baptism-like renewal, it made me see the situation in a different light. Rudy may be young boy, but at the bottom of page 303, the narrator tells us Rudy "...loved her so incredibly hard...he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them." This statement really brings out the importance and reasoning behind Rudy's persistant nature for a simple kiss.