In his novel Wolf Whistle, Lewis Nordan depicts a racist society. Society and the citizens within it are not only petty and mean, but also self-centered. However, between the vague account of the murder of a 14-year-old black boy and the recounting of the stories of the citizens of Arrow Catcher, Mississippi, Nordan provides a sort of glimmer of hope for the future. Since the murder itself is a somewhat minor aspect of the novel and the book lacks any real major black characters, readers may feel like this is a negative aspect of this book. In fact, that's the feeling I had; it was as if the lack of interest in this murder implied that white people actually viewed black people as less important. Yet, perhaps because of Bobo's murder, Nordan brings a kind of hope manifested in some of the white characters' actions. But what exactly is this hope? This hope is not to suddenly turn 180 degrees and create some kind of utopia between races and classes. On the contrary, this hope is rather a chance. But a chance of what? This little bit of hope that Nordan gives to the Arrow Catcher community is more of a chance to expand their horizons so to speak. This gives them the opportunity to think outside the box, which, in turn, means thinking outside of themselves and the judgments that people make and end up passing down from generation to generation. This gives them an opportunity to educate themselves about racial and class differences, which will hopefully prevent them from continuing to be so ignorant. If the community wasn't so lucky, Arrow Catcher might never change. This change that the city needs is a different vision. They need a different outlook on life and people. They needed something to open their eyes, and this murder was just the thing. Before the gruesome murder took place, the residents of Arrow Catcher did what they wanted to do. They only thought of themselves; they were what you might call self-centered. A good example of this can be seen in the characters of Runt and his son Roy Dale. Even though Runt was unhappy without his wife, he refused to change. He did what he wanted to do, which wasn't necessarily what he liked, but more or less satisfied him like hanging out at Red's Goodlookin Bar and Gro.