for helping the boys. After a discussion about the potential use of the Holocaust as an exam essay topic, it becomes especially apparent that Hector’s expressive, emotional attitude towards history directly conflicts with Irwin’s pragmatic view. Hector describes the boys as “parrots,” and compares the automacy of their discussion to a “Speak Your Weight Machine” (75). His association of the boys with parrots and a machine underscores how he considers their academic discussion of a sensitive event as