[Ambrose]

The story didn't amount to anything for me. I didn't get why Jacob was in the attic, why he wanted to clean himself off so badly, or why he hated the shirt his step father gave him. I'm guessing he simply he hated his step father but at the same time Jacob seemed a bit weird to begin with--I mean, who sits in the attic all day and watches the rain? All of the self-deprecating language that he uses makes be believe he's depressed which would explain why he thinks about jumping off the roof later on. I also kind of thought it had to do with him thinking his mother was dirty for going with another man that wasn't his father. Could be totally off on that one. Also the way Jacob reacts to everything seems a bit sporadic: at one point his face is screwed up in anger as he takes the shirt outside and then the next it's funny and then finally he gets a cold chill from realizing what he's just done. A cold chill from stomping on a shirt? I can see killing the neighbor's cat, but a shirt? That seemed a little played up. The ending was OK with Jacob finally escaping and all. But the beginning needs more character development.