Joe and Cal's friendship runs deep. What is Joe to Cal? Discuss the impact they've had on each other, in childhood and as adults. Would you have forgiven Joe, as Cal did?
Created: 12/01/20
Replies: 8
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Joe and Cal's friendship runs deep. What is Joe to Cal? Discuss the impact they've had on each other, in childhood and as adults. Would you have forgiven Joe, as Cal did?
Join Date: 07/28/11
Posts: 422
I think the description blood brothers was a perfect description to describe their relationship. When you have a bond like that, you will forgive each other because love is stronger than a wrongdoing.
Join Date: 02/08/16
Posts: 505
Until Cal and Joes confrontation and reunification, I had the impression that Cal was the leader and Joe the follower. Then Cal tells Joe that that he'd been such a rock and friend to him and how much he had needed him. I think it helped Joe see that he was "good enough" and needed to reach out for the things he wanted. I think I would have forgiven Joe, especially when I realized I wasn't the right person for October.
Join Date: 04/26/17
Posts: 247
For Joe, Cal and his mom represented a home with unconditional love without the sorrow of his missing brother. For Cal, Joe's home represented financial stability and a two parent home. Joe was so broken after the death of Sam, that Cal became his brother. These two men had such a shared history and experienced so many milestones together. I was glad Cal forgave Joe, it was after some time and when Cal was in a committed relationship. This made the reunion of the two men more realistic.
Join Date: 08/10/17
Posts: 215
I agree with another reader that Cal filled the hole that was left in Joe’s life by the death of his brother. For Cal, Joe had an actual family although far from perfect, that he could find a place in. They both really needed something that the other provided.
Join Date: 05/23/20
Posts: 165
Their relationship was certainly special. They truly were like brothers. The fact that twice throughout the novel they were separated for years and upon reuniting it was as if no time had passed (minus the beating up part), you know their bond is solid. I would have forgiven Joe. There's not enough of these bonds these days :(
Join Date: 02/25/19
Posts: 112
Cal is family to Joe. Cal is the relationship that seems to have saved Joe more than once, and it was nice to see how that relationship evolved during the story. Although it came with pain, I would like to believe that I would have forgiven Joe as well, but I also liked the way the "reconciliation" played out in the novel.
Join Date: 04/21/11
Posts: 70
Yes I’d have forgiven him. They had known each other for decades and people screw up. Some people let stuff go and others hold on to it to their detriment.
Join Date: 05/25/17
Posts: 23
Since Cal and October had broken up, it should have been easy for Cal to forgive Joe especially due to their deep relationship in high school.
Also, Cal must have realized that his relationship with October had changed before Joe entered the picture. Also, if Cal had been totally rational, he should have realized that Joe only knew October's beau as Chris and not Cal.
Finally, Cal should have realized that Joe left the concert and October to give up any contest with his blood brother for Joe.
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