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He did not understand what it was to be helpless and alone. No one should be alone in this world. Everyone should have someone who kept faith, no matter what, all the way. (639)

This passage shows the relationship between Frances and her brother, Frank, in Tobias Wolff’s “The Night in Question.” Frank was abused as a child by their father, and Frances would be there for Frank when it seemed that no one else was.

I feel like this quotation contradicts the story that Frank tells within the one that Wolff is telling. In Frank’s story, he says, “He will not leave us alone. He is with all of you, as he is with me.” (641) Frank is saying that no one is ever alone, but in the passage above, it says that, “No one should be alone in this world.” (639) This quote infers that people are alone and that they shouldn’t be alone, but in Frank’s mind, no one is alone, ever.

Throughout the story, the reader can tell that Frances is not as connected with religion as Frank. She seems to think more about the emotional side rather than the religious/reasoning side that Frank does. At the end of the story, Frances asks if Frank would save her if she was in a similar situation. While Frank does not give an answer to Frances, she knows who is answer is going to be, or she hopes she knows. She can see him trying to come up with a reasoning answer as to why he would choose who he did, the answer would have to reflect what he believes. But yet, we do not ever know what his answer would be, we can only hope that he will choose the right one, which ever one that may be.

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