The way the author decided to conclude the book was interesting and effective. It was surprising beyond belief, and in a way allows you to sympathize with Hooker. Through out the entire novel Hooker had to face ridicule and hurtful joke about his "crazy family". This not only hurt Hooker but it also confused him. The family believed that keeping Hooker in the dark protected him and was the best thing for him, when it turned out not to be. He didn't fully understand why his family was always made fun of because no one told him anything. Hooker felt insignificant and not important, and couldn't understand why he was the only one who wasn't privileged to know things.
On top of Hooker not feeling important and having parents there only physically and not emotionally or psychologically he is forced to deal with one of the most unbearable tragedies anyone could deal with. Having no friends and no family is hard enough, and having only a small connection with your brother meant the world to Hooker. So how is it fair after everything he had gone through and was still going to go through that he lost his brother. Gilbert especially knew how much Hooker was hurting and how he felt lonely and had no one; so why did Gilbert make such a selfish decision and figure that killing himself would help? It helped no one but himself, possibly. He gave no warning sign, just felts then was the right time? Did he not understand how messed up and ‘crazy’ everyone already was, and that this would only make things worse. When someone commits suicide everyone has their own way of dealing with the pain and often find someone to blame. The night Rosetta came into Hooker’s room and shared her story about her father dying and how she was forced to deal with it and never forgave until that night she was talking to Hooker. I feel Hooker felt she was making a mockery over how he was feeling about Gilbert’s death. Her father did not commit suicide; the comparison was a poor one. I think Rosetta’s attempt to comfort Hooker only made him angrier and resent and blame Rosetta even more.
His entire life he was left in the dark, and no one cared to share. His mother believed it was better if she treated Hooker like he was dead so she didn’t have to love him. All Hooker wanted was to be loved by his family, yes Iris did the best that she could but children want to feel wanted by their family. Gilbert made the decision the best way to escape from the pain of “the crazy people” was to kill himself and never have to worry about them again. Hooker did not feel exactly the same. If he killed himself that meant that they won. All the agony Gilbert and Hooker endured would mean absolutely nothing. The time spent crying, hurting, and trying to over come the obstacles, all the hard work would go to waste. No, Hooker had a better idea. The only way to allow the family to not hurt him and make him feel unwanted was to eliminate the crazy people. This way they did not win, they could not hurt him, they could not bring him down, and they could not make him feel crazy any longer. So here is to the “End of The Crazy People”, the people who were lost within their sorrow to the point of madness.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment