Neil's Traumar: A Short Story

“I’ll never hit you in the face where it will leave a mark...” The words rushed in, taunting. The cold emptiness in the tone, like he was there in the room, whispering in her ear. And all at once, the fear was back. The raw fear that gripped her body like a vice and left her gulping in air. In a panic, she whirled her head around the room. She was alone. Relief flooded her, but the sickening butterflies remained. She gripped the counter until her knuckles turned white; outlining the jagged scar more prominently, and she fought to steady her breathing, blink back the tears, focus on something else.

In the book, Christopher was trying to solve the murder of Wellington, Mrs. Shear’s dog. He wants to go find out information about whom the suspect could be, but he has difficulties talking to strangers. His anxiety holds him back and makes him awkward around all strangers. While questioning his neighbors about what they know about Wellington he said, “‘Do you know who killed Wellington?’ I did not look at his face. I do not like looking at people’s faces, especially if they are strangers. He did not say anything for a few seconds”(36). This quote demonstrates Christopher’s severe social problems. He is withdrawn from the conversation and appears to be uncomfortable. While Christopher may not realize it throughout the course of the novel, his disability is a conflict to himself. When Christopher was trying to make his way to London to reunite with his mother, he had to travel through a train station. This situation could have been overwhelming to anybody who had never traveled alone, but Christopher didn’t handle his unease like most normal people. “And there was sweat running down my face from under my hair and I was moaning, not

The first reason why Andrew’s obstacles were harder to overcome was because Andrew’s fear of public speaking is huge. An example of this from the text is “The idea of reading in front of class made my toes curl inside my sneakers.” Poor Andrew had a hard time even reading a passage in front of his small class and it made him physically hurt. Then, as he went on to the stage, it explains “I begged my legs to steady me and my knees to stop quaking. They didn’t listen.” For Andrew’s body to be so

When he was thirteen, IV broke his first mirror. He can remember how the glass sliced into his skin, like it was made of nothing, like he was made of nothing. It hadn't stung at first.

“You see?” repeated Benjamin, an air of nervousness plaguing his tone. “I have them—at last. Do you see?”

Even though Booker had attended over a dozen therapy sessions (both with Tom and without), he still found the experience extremely uncomfortable, and he cringed inwardly at the question. He was a private person by nature, and discussing his feelings with a stranger was not easy. The intense psychological examination was new territory for him, and it had him stepping outside his comfort zone and leaping feet first into the unwelcome state of vulnerability and agitation. Although he had known

The emotional anguish shining from Booker’s dark eyes brought a lump to Tom’s throat, and before he had time to think about the consequences of his actions, he leaned forward and brushed his lips over his friend’s quivering pout. The brief contact sent a shiver of arousal down his spine, and flustered and confused by his overt display of affection, he stepped back, his face flaming red and a shy smile playing over his lips. He had no idea what had made him act so impulsively, and uncertainty quickened his pulse. His stomach rolled with a mixture of nerves and humiliation, and he quickly lowered his eyes to the floor, too embarrassed to meet Booker’s gaze. But as a lengthy silence hung in the air, he dared to peer up through his long lashes,

Paul finally remembered how he got blind, “I remembered Erik's fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them” (p. 251). The consequence of this was that Paul had to get an IEP and got kicked off the Lake Windsor soccer team. In addition he got called names and had to wear glasses for the rest of his life. After paul got kicked of the soccer team he called Joey to tell him, "Coach Walski said I'm in a program for the handicapped so I'm off the team” (page 66). This shows how blinding Paul got him kicked out of the Lake Windsor soccer team due to his handicap paul couldn’t play on the Lake Windsor soccer team which resulted in him switching schools. To conclude Tino called Paul to hear about what happened, "You take care of yourself, brother. I'll see you in the groves” (p. 285). This shows that because of Erik impairing Paul’s eyes he changes schools to join the soccer team where he gets new friends. Erik’s decision to spray Paul in the face changed Paul’s life and influenced some other characters decisions in the book ultimately changing almost everything that happened in the

He says “They did not know that I did it for myself… I was ashamed of having a crippled

When Charlie Gordon took the operation he started to feel and show emotions. First came anger when he saw people treated the boy working in the dinner with no respect. Next came love and happiness when he fell in love with Miss Kinnian and felt full of joy. Finally came sadness when Algernon died he felt sad because Algernon was a friend to him. In the story it said “P.P.S please if you get a chance put some flowers in Algernon’s grave in the backyard” (p.341). Charlie still feels sad that his friend Algernon is dead so he wants to show that he will always remember Algernon as a friend. If it wasn’t for the surgery Charlie would have never felt these

“They’ll believe that. I didn’t know it would kill Andrew. And when he was dead,

Now I know what it means “to pull a Charlie Gordon.’’ I’m ashamed.” (Keyes201). He always saw everyone as being his friend and everyone seeing him as an equal. At this moment he saw how people really saw him. For the first time in his life he saw his “friends” for what they really are. Even when Charlie became smart he started to be like everyone else, “I felt sick inside as I looked at his dull, vacuous smile, the wide, bright eyes of a child, uncertain but eager to please. They were laughing at him because he was mentally retarded, and I had been laughing at him too.” (Keyes207). He had been just like that boy once, and now he’s just like everyone who was laughing at him. He realized that he was becoming like the people who once laughed at him. This opened his eyes to how the world will treat people. It was worth the surgery because he got to experience the other side of

― Megyn Kelly once asked him if he had ever been (emotionally) wounded by a friend. After a bit of motherly prodding, he responded, “If I’m wounded by someone, I hit back real hard so I can un-wound myself.”

Norman took a deep breath. It hadn't been easy, coming to terms with himself, but he figured it out. The only person he had told was Neil, his theatre friends, Coraline, and his sister, but now he was sitting in front of the computer with cold feet. "You can do it Norman! I believe in you," Neil roughly punched Norman on the shoulder. He let out a groan.

Anton finds a way of healing at the end of the book when he interacts with the ‘howl of the mob’. This context can be explained in two ways. Firstly, from context of episode five, the howl is known as a howl of fear. The howl gradually makes it way to Anton, Peter, and people in the parade. The context also includes “He has lived through the War”(185). The howl can be seen as if a second war is being introduced. The howl moves entirely throughout the city and catches everyone’s attention. Since Anton has already lived through the war once, he finds closure from the fact that he can protect his family if it does occur again. As a child, Anton failed to keep his parents in sight. Seeing that he is a parent now, he will be able to keep his family