Charlie's Coming of Age

One scene that I would like to discuss is the scene where he decides to give Ross's wallet back with the money. There are many reasons why he shouldn't have given it back. Ross absolutely would not have given the wallet back to Jason if the roles were reversed. Also, this would be an excellent form of revenge, as Ross's dad would have beat Ross for losing the wallet, which was absolutely Ross's fault. Ross had been told to take good care of it and he did not at all. Even the bumper cart ride manager had told Ross to stop horsing around in the ride cause he would get hurt. Not to mention most other people who would have found the wallet would not have returned it. However, if Jason was to enact revenge through Ross's father, it would be pointless and unfitting. Jason would have little to no connection, and Ross would not learn much of any lesson. Ross would not know it was him, nor would he be likely to change his behavior towards Jason. So in other words, Ross would

Alison and Bruce are opposites in so many ways yet so similar and connected. Firstly, they are exactly opposite in both their sex, sexuality, and gender expression. Bruce is a closeted, feminine gay man, while Alison is a masculine, out and proud lesbian. Yet they are similar in their obsessive mannerisms, Alison with her "I think" habit with her diary and other OCD compulsions, and Bruce with his perfectionist house redecorating. They share their love of English and as Alison grows older they begin to discuss a variety of books with each other.  Their differences forces a harsh perspective on Alison's life growing up, but it also allows her to reflect and grow on her circumstances. Bruce was unable to come out like Alison has, growing up in a less inclusive time. This had forced him to marry Helen, raise kids, and perform the role as a masculine father. Because of this, Bruce is abusive in many ways to his children which strains the way Alison views him.  Fun Home discus

Esther feels confined, and like she is being observed like some anomaly. In Chapter 10 she has paranoia that Dodo is walking back and forth purposefully outside her mothers house to watch her. She feels the subconscious judgement of everyone in her community. Esther feels alone and judged my everyone for her condition. This creates a vicious cycle for her that makes her condition worsen because she is in a bad condition.  The metaphorical bell jar that Esther finds herself in seems to cause a two-way distortion. Esther begins to see everyone else around her differently and as evil, and people have no way of seeing into her mind and her pain. She immediately assumes the worst in many people. This stems from her perception that everyone is studying her, as if she were underneath a bell jar, amplifying her conclusion that she possesses insanity.  The second way the bell jar distorts her world is in the way that she is entirely trapped beneath it. Under the constrictions of her mental illn

In many ways Holden strives too hard to remain not "phony". However, he also does the opposite and doesn't try hard enough. Holden picks fights, but can never do much except antagonize the person hurting him. He never seems to actually say what he really thinks till he lets his emotions get the better of him in the midst of being beat up. For example, when he imagines Jane with Stradlater he finally lashes out and reveals his true emotions about Stradlater, but before always acts kind and nice to Stradlater despite despising his personality. When in chapter 5 when Holden gets in the one sided fight with Stradlater he calls back to his story of how he broke all the windows in the garage after finding out that Allie had died. He gives this as the reason that he wasn't able to connect properly with Stradlater's face. This seems like such an interesting detail to mention to me for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it seems like a petty, but possibly somewhat honest, excu