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A Lesson Before Dying Chapter Summary

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3. Summary of the graphic novel The story starts with a six year old David, who is lying on the ground doing his favorite thing – drawing. He introduces his family members, his mother, his father and his older brother Ted. Since he was born, he was very sickly and his father, a radiologist treated him in different ways, one of them being x-rays. One day, while visiting his father at the hospital he works at, he decides to sneak around and comes across a fetus in a jar, which shocks the young boy and prompts him to run away, leaving his shoes behind, much to the chagrin of his mother. A while later, he and his mother visit his grandmother, a scary old lady, during the holidays. While his mother goes out for the day, he is left alone alone with his grandmother. As David does not do his chores as told, his grandmother burns him with hot water as punishment, which David can not help …show more content…

At the age of eleven a friend of his mother, Mrs Dillon, notices a cyst on his neck, much to the annoyance of his mother. Mr Dillon checks the bump on his neck again and advises his parents to get it surgically removed, which does not happen until three and a half years later. Due to his mothers discontent with David, she decides to burn his books, which she sees as filth. Now at the age of fourteen David is finally at the hospital to get his cyst surgically removed, which does not seem to work at first, so a second surgery is needed, leaving him without the ability to properly speak and a huge scar on his neck. David does not know the cause of the growth on his neck was cancer until he finds out by accident. His rebellious life starts and a confrontation with his parents about his former illness still leaves him without answers. At the age of fifteen he consults a psychoanalyst, who helps him come to

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