“Dani was killed
before she ever learned the rules” shows that she didnt understand much, about how the neighborhood worked. “What you need it for anyway?” shows she didnt get the rules even more. Or that she didnt know shawn died, the latter proven to be true later in the chapter. These show innocence by her not knowing anything about the grey morality of the rules.
Jason Reynolds used Dani’s flower dress to help portray her as innocent. “The flower dress the same.” (129) Dani wearing the same exact outfit from when Will remembered her eight years ago shows she is still an innocent child and causes no harm. “But then she put her hand on my shoulder, her perfume floating from her wrist to just under my nostrils.”(122) Reynolds uses her scent and outfit to show her tone and vibe to Will and the readers. Imagery was used to help the reader imagine what Will was seeing and smelling, this can help show Dani's innocence.
"dani was killed before she ever learned the rules" it show she was killed before anyone of them know the rules as a kid
Reynolds uses describing words to associate Dani with innocence stating “fine as heaven, flower dress, Low heels, Light makeup” (110). All of these words can be used to describe innocence. The flower dress also reminds me of a kids clothing and kids are normally innocent. Reynolds states “Her face eight years older than eight years old but still the same.”(129). This is suggesting that she is still the same as she was as a child. Still looks the same and is still as innocent.
She is Will’s friend from 8 years ago, and even though she looks about 16, she still knows as much as she did when she was 8. “Dani was killed before she ever learned the rules.” This reminds us that she still is mentally-ish 8. Her physical appearance is also youthful, she has makeup on (the whole point of makeup is to appear younger and more colorful) and her flower dress is the same. Dani also introduces herself as knowing shawn from the playground.
she is portrayed as innocent because the author mentioned how they were at the playground, the monkey bars, and how she had a picture of them there because the playground is for kids and kids are innocent
Jason Reynolds associates Dani with innocence because he remembers her from when he was a kid, when he still didn't know about the rules, before they affected him. “Her face eight years older than eight years old, but still the same.”. This is also shown when Dani questiones Will how a little kid would question an adult, with a lot of follow up questions. “Then Dani asked, what if you miss? But I won't, I said. But what if you do? She asked. I won't, I said. But how you know?”.Another way innocence is shown is by the way he remembers when he first lost it, when he was taught the first rule. “I cried all night, '' I confessed. And the next morning, over hard-boiled eggs and sugar cereal, Shawn taught me Rule Number One- no crying.”. The last way it’s shown is when he realizes he’s not a kid anymore, everything and everyone is all grown up around him. “You smoke? I asked. You shoot? She shot back, slipping it between shiny lips leaning forward for the light.”.
Jayson Reynolds associates with Danis innocence by adding “Your gun?” Dani saying this involves her not being aware of the problems that happened after her death. Jayson reynold gives the reader a lot of flashbacks about Dani and wills childhood, how they used to swing on the monkey bars and what they used to do at the park . In page 141 it states “Dani was killed before she learned the rules” this interprets her innocence even more since she didn't know the 3 important rules meaning she never had to deal with the trauma.
Jason Renolds associates innocence with Dani because she was young and sweet when she faced something horrible. ¨Dani, who hung from the monkey bar tongue hanging from her mouth¨(Reynolds page 127). Dani and Will were playful; they liked to jump around and hang upside down for as long as they could.¨ Her eyes wide, the brightness dimming.Her mouth, open. Bubble gum and blood¨(Reynolds page 133). They were normal kids but guns were normal too. I associate bubble gum with fun and youth so it's ironic that she died with it in her mouth.
Dani is associated with innocence because the author shows her as a kid swinging on the monkey bars with Will and having fun which makes the reader think that she was just an innocent little child. “Flower dress, shorts underneath for Dani, who hung from a monkey bar tongue hanging from her mouth like pink candy.'' She is another person in Will's life that was killed, just like his brother, Who we think were both innocent. Dani was a friend of Wills that we think was innocent because she was just a little girl playing with her friend. If someone wasn’t innocent then maybe they would have hid themselves if they knew someone was trying to kill them, they wouldn't be playing on the monkey bars outside. Shawn protected them both with his life, If Dani had done something wrong and was not innocent then maybe Shawn wouldn't have protected her. “I told Dani how I remember Shawn screaming for us to get down. How he lay on top of us, covering us, smashing us in the dirt.”
She associates with innocence because of how she was a child when she died. One part in the book says “her mouth opened, bubble gum” Showing that she has some innocence. Also in the book some of the words that are referred to when she is talked about are words like “playground” and “monkey bars”. Those are both things that you would do when you are a child and when you're shown to be innocent. Also, I think she is supposed to symbolize the turning point of Will's loss of innocence because right after she died Will learned the rules from shawn. The book said “ I cried all night” and then the next day they said “Shawn taught me rule number one, no crying”. That shows how the death of Dani made Shawn teach the rules to will.
Dani acts as an avatar of innocence in Will's quest for revenge. Dani is there to remind will who he used to be when he was young and happy. “The sun shining in my eyes. the sunshine in hers”. Dani is the one who made Will innocent, she blocked him from seeing the shadows. “Tongue hanging from her mouth like pink candy”. Sweet is associated with happiness, this symbolizes that will was happy and innocent when Dani was still alive.
How does Jason Reynolds associate Dani with innocence? In particular: What specific words/images/descriptions does he associate with Dani?
