Alex Question #3

         When Gene is returning to the Academy building at the start of the book there are many different new features of the building that he did not remember from before. The first thing he notices is the newly polished outside of the building. " With narrower windows and shinier woodwork, as if a coat of varnish had been put over everything for better preservation." (Knowles Pg9) This is Gene noticing all the little details from when he went to school here and comparing present day to the past. The next thing that he notices is the is the indents on the large marble stairs in the foyer. "Although they were old stairs, the worn moons in the middle of each step were not very deep." (Knowles Pg11) Gene notices both of these situations because he wants the school to slow down and wait for him. Both of these realizations that Gene is having are both making him notice that he is getting older. He is also realizing that nothing will stop for him, everything has to keep moving.  Knowles is adding this feature to the book to make us feel like it was better back in the day and it will be better for our main character,  Gene, throughout the book. Knowles is making the present day sound all lonely and abandoned by having no one in the foyer at the same time that Gene is. He is also making the past sound better just by the way that Gene speaks of it.