The Last Rung on the Ladder

Who might Larry be addressing in this story? Using context clues from the text, discuss whether he is speaking to someone or writing to someone, and what relationship, if any, he has to the “you” in the story.

Larry states, “I couldn’t believe that my sister and the beaten woman who signed ‘Kitty’ in a circle at the bottom of her letters were really the same person. My sister was a girl with pigtails, still without breasts” (304). Why does he have such a hard time reconciling the adult Katrina with the young Kitty?

Compare the story to The Eyes of the Dragon, a novel in which King also uses the motif of a character saving someone by cushioning their fall. How does that motif develop in the novel, and how does it compare to the events of the story?