Stopping Time

"It vexed him to get lost like this in front of his son, especially since the fault lay with the lousy map the Academy had sent him, but Owen was in one of his trances and didn't seem to notice." "Nightengale" Our Story Begins p. 337 Tobias Wolff

Dr. Booth was constantly reminding his son that the silly map that the Academy sent them was the reason they were getting lost. He definitely did not want his son to know that he had absolutely no idea where they were. Dr. Booth never wanted his son to see a weakness in him, especially right before dropping him off at school. If getting lost because of his father was one of the last memories before going away to school, it was certainly going to stick with him for a while. Even though Owen was a little out of it, he was trying to convince his dad that the faulty map to the Academy was proof that the Academy itself was faulty. He was trying to convince him that sending him away to a faulty school would result in him being badly educated. Dr. Booth was replying that just because the school sent out one faulty map didn't mean that they were not an excellent school. Owen was convinced that the Academy was not the right place for him. He tried desperately to change his fathers mind, using the map as evidence to support his claim. However, his father kept twisting his words and coming back to the point that the map was clearly the reason that they were lost. He was avoiding the conversation that his son wanted so desperately to talk about. Dr. Booth just kept telling his son that it was most definitely not his fault that they were lost, even though he did not bother getting other directions just in case. During their long conversation, Dr. Booth continued to take wrong turns, resulting in them getting more and more lost. The map was very confusing. The names of the streets were completely marked wrong, and the directions were very vague. It really was not Dr. Booth's fault that they were so lost. Maybe Owen would have an easier time believing him if he did not keep telling him that it was the maps fault. However, Owen wasn't really paying close attention to what his father was saying anyways. He was only trying to convince him to change his mind about sending him to the Academy. Owen was still in a trance because of his immense fear of the boarding school that his father was forcing him to go to. Dazed, he just blankly stared out the window. He was not actually seeing the trees and grass that were whizzing by, but instead he saw blankness. All he could envision was the huge boarding school in which he would be trapped in at the end of the car ride. He was wondering how the other boys would treat him. Whether they would accept him, or reject him. He could not stop conjuring up images of him being an outcast at the Academy. Instead, he decided to let his mind go blank as his father continued to get them lost.