(King and Khalid shared a bed and had no other siblings, so King really feels a bond with him. Shining a spotlight on this formation might make it harder for some to feel respected in their journey.)Ĥ) Why does King keep a notebook of things his brother has said in his asleep?

(Eager for their own individuality, these students inadvertently added pressure to their peers at a time when identities are still being formed. Then the gossip mill starts about Sandy coming out as gay. Also, Mikey knows that his own brother is friends with King)ģ) At school, 12-year-old King and his classmates begin to hint about crushes they experience. Mikey may have been at odds with King’s brother, but never wished him dead. _(Perhaps it is true that no one is all good or all bad we are all in the process of becoming someone. Why is Mikey motivated to extend his condolences to King? They are dainty, beautiful, winged creatures that represent transformation and self-realization)Ģ) In chapter one, there is a tense exchange between Mikey Sanders and King with an unexpected outcome. _(dragonflies in this story are nearly angelic. What characteristics of dragonflies made our author chose them? What do they symbolize? It is not until the end of the novel that King admits to himself that what Khalid told him about being gay hurt him, even though Khalid meant no harm and was just trying to protect him.This entry was posted in Julie's DIYs on by Julie Martinġ) King believes his brother has become a dragonfly. Thus, for King to accept the feelings he has for other boys and finally embrace his own identity, he must overcome the anti-gay influence of two people he loves. If a Black person is ever gay, it’s because they’ve been around white people too much” (57). During a Thanksgiving Dinner, King’s father said, “Black people can’t be gay. He also recalls his father saying that being gay is “unnatural” (56). King’s father has also expressed anti-gay sentiments. Khalid is now gone, so King believes that being friends with Sandy would dishonor his dead brother’s memory. However, he decides that he can’t be Sandy’s friend anymore because his brother Khalid overheard their conversation and told King, “You don’t want people to think you’re gay, too, do you?” (27). At the beginning of the novel, King recalls when his friend Sandy told him he was gay, and King responded that he might be gay, too. King and the Dragonflies is a coming-of-age story, meaning the protagonist, King, is on a journey of self-discovery.

King and the dragon flies