"Sure it will
hurt. But so what? Pain is just a state of mind. You can think your way out of
anything, even pain."
I think this is a very important line. It is almost an
Author's Intrusion, but I'm not quite sure. What I really like about these few
sentences is that they are a scientific thing, but they have an element of
deepness and insight, like it has a lot more of a meaning. Just like Freak. It
also has a lot to do with the book. Not just having to do with Freak's surgery,
but also with Max's father, Max's insecurity. It says,
"You can think
your way out of anything, even pain."
It feels like it was
meant to not be about pain. The way it says 'even pain' really gives this that whole connection to Max's life.
It's saying that Max can think his way out of what his father did, in a sense.
Like maybe he can drown out the teasing and the fright of the people around him.
Or, he could talk about what his father did. That’s what I'm really hoping he
does, because it is the only way he'll get over it. He could also think his way
out of his insecurity. I guess that is kind of the ONLY way to get out of it.
But he just needs to know that he is worth something.
So, I think this quote is really good and important to
the story.
I agree, you can erase pain from your mind by just not thinking about it, as long as it's not too severe. Max can erase the pain brought on by his father by just forgetting it. He can act like Freak, who has so much pain, but instead of feeling sorry for himself, he just focuses on the good things in his life. I never read "Freak the Mighty", but from your post I was able to identify each character and their backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI totally get what your saying, but I have to disagree on one thing: Max surely can forget about his father and not try to feel the pain, but eventually those feelings are going to resurface and he will need to drown them again. It's kind of like that one line in Confessions of a Shopaholic, where she says that shopping makes her happy and it makes the world happy, but then it's not anymore and she needs to do it again. I feel kind of like a dork for saying that, but... Yeah.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It's hard for Max to ignore the emotional pain he has when people are constantly giving him bad looks and not treating him the right way. It must bring his thoughts back to his father. I agree, Max can try to ignore all the pain, but it will just come back to him.
ReplyDeleteSince I never read the book I have two questions. Does the pain ever come back to Freak? How does he deal with it to shut it out of his mind?