If there is an experience that all of us surely have shared is that of the internal conflict. We've all had that moment where we can't really determine whether we like something or not. We can't exactly label something as good or bad without some doubts. After being taken out of the intensive care unit, Brent fases the exact same problem. This happens during the telethon that is held in the hospital that he is staying in. Brent decides to stay in his room due to fear of being asked what happened, but his parents decided to go down anyways. Brent turns on the TV and sees his parents being interviewed and witnesses the words that would end up greatly troubling him.
The interview is pretty basic with the interviewer asking Bren't parents about their son's treatment and time spent in the hospital, but things start getting messy for Brent when the interviewer asks his parents how their son got burned. They answered by saying that he was burned in an accidental house fire a few months ago. This lie made Brent have the reaction of "Right. Okay. Okay. We can say that. We don't have to tell anyone what really happened. ... Why did they lie? I mean, I don't blame them, but id they have to? But I'm glad they didn't say the truth. I don't know." (121) Brent isn't sure whether his parent's lie was a good thing. This is due to the conflict between his old, naive nature and his new, mature nature. His naive nature is one that involves not wanting to discuss feelings and reasons behind actions. Brent used to preffer leaving questions unanswered. In the other hand, his new, mature nature shows to be a lot more approachable with a desire to let out the truth. Brent himself has become curious of his own feelings and has to open up in order to satisfy his new desires. This conflict over his parent's lie shows that these two natures are balance as none seems to have a dominance over Brent. The pull of the old nature towards the lie being good and the pull of the new nature towards the lie being bad are equal at the moment when Brent sees the interview. However, shortly afterwards, a slight upper hand is shown.
When a woman came to visit Brent in order to convince him to buy the products of a cosmetic company, Brent shows his choice of the two natures. The woman shows Brent a girl that had suffered from burns but now looks healthy thanks to the base that she is selling. It's supposed to raise self esteem through better appearance and seems pretty effective. However, Brent seems decided when he chooses to deny the offer. His reasoning is "I'm not going to cover anything up. This is me." (121) Brent has decided to stop running away from himself and has accepted his new, mature nature. He wants to know who he really is and has oppened up in order to achieve this. There will be no more lies and secrets in Brent's life leading to a possible closure between Brent and himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment