May Discussion #3: Relation to the Story

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'm really connecting to the book in a very surprising way that makes me acknowledge my childhood and early adolescence. My father wasn't an asshole like Ray, I didn't have a schitzophrenic twin like Dominick nor was I raped like Dessa. But for some reason, I relate to the fucked up stories that Dominick recalls. I relate to the therapy sessions he has with "Dr. Ghandi". I relate to Dominicks anger. I relate to his feeling of being trapped in a life and a social class that he didn't choose. I relate to him trying to clambor out - leave all the other idiots behind.

I don't particularly LIKE Dominick. He reminds me of my ex (the one I met when I moved to NY). He's an asshole. He has anger issues. He can get violent and abusive. It makes me panicky. But I relate to him when he is a struggling young man, eager to love Dessa, willing to do anything to try and be decent and get out of his shit hole life. I feel like he oscillates between who he WANTS to be and who he is as a product of his life/environment. He's on his own. No one is going to help him out but himself. No one is handing him anything on silver platters. He's worked for everything he has. Knows how hard it can be. And in his therapy "sessions" you see how hard of a toll that takes on a person.

The story, to me, is a testament to the truthfulness in the tough life some people have. That a LOT of people have some fucked up stories too. I am sometimes just SURPRISED by his absolute honesty in his recounts (example being the RAPE of Dessa) - people remember crazy crap like that - things like that HAPPEN...but no one ever re-tells them. I know I don't.