Rufus in A Death in the Family understands that death is permanent, but he still has not yet understood how to grieve or how to cope with the death of his father. In a way, we can see that Rufus is only thinking about himself and not about how his father's death might affect others around him. He saw it as a way to show it to the world. looking at me. (Jewkes 98) Rufus uses this as an advantage for himself by "showing himself to the people because he is dead" (Jewkes 98) so that they will not laugh at him, but so that they can admired because of his bravery. Rather, his ways of coping were ways of figuring out how this death could make him a beneficiary in some way. 6 year olds don't know how death works, so he doesn't realize at first that his father isn't coming back. In the quotes above, the character Rufus is pictured "Going out into the street like that when he's dead / Going out into the street like what?" / Show himself to people because he is dead. » (Jewkes 99). The character Rufus tries to live in his father's light. After his father was pronounced dead, he then “thought of the ashtray hanging from his weighted arm strap; it was empty. He passed his finger inside; there was only a faint stain of ash. There was nothing like it to keep in your pocket or wrap in a paper. He looked at his finger for a moment and licked it; his tongue tasted of darkness. » (Jewkes 99) Rufus was trying to commemorate or live in the spirit of his father, or to have a piece of his father in him. Given these points, the excerpt from James Agee's A Death in the Family followed the pseudonym of James himself, Rufus. Rufus used his own father's death to help him move forward further. Experiences shape how a situation is perceived. And when something as serious as a death in the family occurs, perspectives and ideas are likely to be altered.