1. Where is Sin of Omission set and how does the principal setting
of the story affect the main characters?
2. In the beginning of the story (page 12), the narrator (Danny) indicates:
"…Most of my beliefs, my feelings, my very existence, in fact, were
shaped by events that occurred before I was born, and it's difficult for me to
be nostalgic for things I never experienced first-hand." What does
Danny mean by this, and what are some of the events that occurred before he
was born that affected him so profoundly?
3. What is the significance of fire in the story? Where does mention of
fire occur in the book?
4. What is the "sin of omission" referred to in the title?
5. What are the consequences of Danny's sin of omission?
6. What is the theme of Sin of Omission?
Answers
1. Suffolk Square is the home that the main character (Danny) reluctantly
conjures in his memory. It is where most of the action occurs and where the
main characters make critical choices that affect their lives. Suffolk Square
is a narrow world filled with family, friends and fond memories on the one
hand, and dangerous antagonists and frightening experiences on the other. It
is the place from which Danny has escaped and to which he must, in the end,
return.
2. Danny's great-grandfather (Lev Karavitch) was persecuted in Russia; he
escaped to America and settled in Suffolk Square. One of the people who
persecuted him (George Volkov/Volkovsky) also settled in Suffolk Square, and
Lev was forced to confront him. A generation later, Lev's daughter (Aunt
Sophie) had a brief relationship with George Volkovsky's son, Georgie. Danny
encounters George Volkovsky's grandson, Kenny Volkovsky, and must find a way
to deal with him.
3. Fire is a motif that runs throughout Sin of Omission, images of which
occur, both overtly and subtly, in many chapters. It is first mentioned in
Part One during the pogrom in which the Russian marauders burn many of the
houses in the village, and later when Ivan Volkov burns to death in Lev
Karavitch's ruined butcher shop.
In Part Two, Sophie's husband Charlie burns to death during the war. There
is also a brief mention of the famous Boston nightclub, the Cocoanut Grove,
which burned down during the war, killing about 400 people.
In Part Three, fire is mentioned in several chapters: Kenny Volkovsky
torturing a cat; Matt and Danny using a match to sterilize the knife when they
become blood brothers; the neighborhood kids gather around a campfire to tell
ghost stories; Kenny's ghost story deals with a boy perishing in a fire; Matt
and Danny sneak into the alley to smoke cigarettes (Danny fumbles with the
matches); Billy Cline's house burns down; when Matt and Danny meet Billy in
Bear Cave, it is illuminated by the flame of a candle.
4. The sin of omission is Danny's failure to tell the truth about what
happened to Kenny Volkovsky in the summer of 1962. It is alluded to early in
the book (on page 11) when the narrator (Danny) indicates, "…Back then,
I still thought that hiding the truth was different than telling a lie."
5. Danny's failure to tell the truth about Kenny Volkovsky's fate causes grief
for Billy Cline's father and for the Volkovsky family. Billy's father grieved
for his lost son (who wasn't really dead after all) and ended up committing
suicide. The Volkovskys, meanwhile, "…never stopped wondering and
worrying about Kenny." On page 203, Danny realizes, "…If only I
had told them [the Volkovsky family] the truth, they would have been able to
grieve, but Matt and I had left them with nothing but the endless, agonizing
and, sadly, false hope that somehow Kenny would return or get word to them of
his whereabouts."
Additionally, the secret they keep significantly alters Danny and Matt's
close relationship: On page 201, Danny reveals, "In the years that
followed, Matt and I became increasingly distant. We still saw each other
occasionally in high school, but we had different circles of friends by then
and we just drifted apart, our happy childhood friendship forever bound and
broken by our ugly little secret."
6. The principal theme of Sin of Omission is a man's search for
redemption, which he discovers, in the end, cannot be achieved because he has
waited too long to seek it. Danny is haunted by the secret he has kept for
forty years, and he finally confronts his inner demons only after his sister's
encounter with Billy Cline forces him to do so. By then, those who can absolve
him of his "sin of omission" are long since dead.
A sub-theme is the breaking down of the myth of nostalgia. That is, the
narrator makes it clear that his childhood wasn't necessarily a happier, more
innocent time by contrasting happy, innocent and sometimes humorous moments
with dark and tragic events.