The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

by

Christopher Paul Curtis

Leather Gloves Symbol Icon

The leather gloves that Wilona buys her children each winter represent the ways in which Kenny and his siblings are financially privileged. Of course, they’re certainly not rich, but they do have some things that other kids at school don’t have—like, for instance, beautiful leather gloves lined with rabbit fur. Rufus doesn’t have any gloves, so Kenny gives him a pair of his own, since the Watson children each receive two pairs every winter. Kenny’s willingness to share with Rufus is a testament to his tendency to help others whenever he can. Rather than gloating about how nice his gloves are, he comes up with a way to make sure his friend doesn’t have to play in the snow with his bare hands. However, Larry Dunn ends up stealing Kenny’s second pair of gloves. At first, Kenny is angry about what Larry has done, so he tells Byron, who takes back the gloves and beats Larry up. But as Kenny watches Byron pushing Larry around, he sees that Larry is wearing extremely light, torn-up clothing on a very cold day, suggesting that Larry’s family—like Rufus’s—can’t afford to give him warm clothes. In the end, Kenny wishes he had never said anything to Bryon, since he would rather have let Larry keep the gloves than watch his brother humiliate him in the cold. The gloves themselves thus symbolize not just the few privileges that Kenny gets to enjoy, but also his awareness that not everyone comes from the same financial background.

Leather Gloves Quotes in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

The The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 quotes below all refer to the symbol of Leather Gloves. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Byron jerked Larry’s arms over his head three times. Larry Dunn was really tough! Not only because he wasn’t crying when By was going to mess him up, but also because when Byron jerked his arms over his head like that we all could see that Larry’s skinny little windbreaker was ripped under both arms and Larry just had on a T-shirt underneath it.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Rufus, Larry Dunn
Related Symbols: Leather Gloves
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 PDF

Leather Gloves Symbol Timeline in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

The timeline below shows where the symbol Leather Gloves appears in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Family, Friendship, and Support Theme Icon
Race and Class Theme Icon
...Wilona is so afraid of the cold, she gives each of her children real leather gloves. Nobody else at school has such nice gloves—they have to run around with their sleeves... (full context)
Bullying and Injustice vs. Kindness and Compassion Theme Icon
Kenny and Rufus tell Byron that Larry bullied them and stole Kenny’s gloves. After finding Larry, Byron slaps him multiple times and rips the gloves off his hands.... (full context)
Family, Friendship, and Support Theme Icon
Bullying and Injustice vs. Kindness and Compassion Theme Icon
Race and Class Theme Icon
...he never even told Byron what happened. He would rather have gone with just one glove for the rest of the year than watch his brother treat Larry so cruelly. (full context)