Bobby is the white son of the Man who befriends Denver while Denver lives with Aunt Etha and Uncle James. Bobby is the single character completely unfazed by racism and discrimination, boldly approaching Denver one day and asking to be friends. When Bobby realizes that Denver is hungry, he begins saving parts of his own meals to give to Denver, and when Denver is picking extra cotton scraps to buy a new bicycle from the Man, Bobby gives up his own free time to help Denver gather cotton. Although Bobby and Denver part ways when Bobby begins attending school, Bobby’s selfless friendship—despite his privileged status as the Man’s son—serves to complicate the Man as a symbol, demonstrating that even someone associated with the Man can be compassionate and self-sacrificing.
Bobby Quotes in Same Kind of Different as Me
The Same Kind of Different as Me quotes below are all either spoken by Bobby or refer to Bobby. 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:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Thomas Nelson edition of Same Kind of Different as Me published in 2006.
Chapter 7
Quotes
Purty soon [Bobby’s] people figured out we was friends, but they didn’t really try to keep us from associatin, ‘specially since I was the only boy on the place right around his age and he needed somebody to play with and keep outta trouble. They detected he was givin me food, so they put a little wood table outside the back door for met to eat on. After a while, once Bobby’d get his food, he’d come right on out and me and him’d sit at that little table and eat together.
Related Characters:
Denver Moore (speaker), Bobby
Related Symbols:
The Man
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Same Kind of Different as Me LitChart as a printable PDF.
Bobby Character Timeline in Same Kind of Different as Me
The timeline below shows where the character Bobby appears in Same Kind of Different as Me. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
One day, as Denver is walking home, a white boy named Bobby approaches him and asks him to ride bicycles with him. Denver doesn’t have a bicycle,...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...seems to be no reason to—he goes to live with his sister Hershalee. Denver misses Bobby, and without him has very limited interaction with any white people besides the Man.
(full context)
...by the neck behind him. Denver nearly blacks out and thinks he will die until Bobby and his aunt happen to pull up in a vehicle and point a shotgun at...
(full context)
Bobby and his aunt drive Denver to his Auntie’s house, where he spends the next week...
(full context)