Answer:
1) The characters experiences a lot of tramam and bad experiences. They have loved ones that died. Billie Joe is a courageist main characther. The mother Billie Joe and the newborn baby died which gives Billie Joe pain.    
2) Authors often employ figurative language to make unfamiliar objects, settings and situations more relatable. Short stories, in particular, rely heavily on figurative language -- such as similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification -- to make the characters and storylines come alive in the reader’s mind.
 
        
             
        
        
        
Answer:
The theme of the passage is that telling the truth is always the best thing to do.
The evidence of this theme can be seen in the lines:
"But in the morning, he gathered his nerve and told his father what he had done. His father was silent for a moment, then hugged Oskar. "I know it was hard for you to admit that," he said, "but I also know how much you love the stars and planets. Let's fix it together so you can learn more about how telescopes work.""
Explanation:
The theme of a text refers to the message the author wants to convey through reading. In the case of the text presented in the question above, the reader can see that after the boy breaks his father's telescope, he is very afraid to tell the truth about what happened. However, when he plucked up the courage, told the truth, and took the blame, the boy's father was not angry, but rather proud that his son was brave enough to tell the truth. In this, we can see that the message the author wants to present is that telling the truth is always the best option. This is the theme of the excerpt.