A Brief Moment In The Life Of Angus Bethune Character Analysis

Approximately 24 million people in the United States struggle with an eating disorder. Almost 50% of these people have depression (11). Depression, anxiety, and anger are very common among people with eating disorders. Chris Crutcher, the author of A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune, uses Angus as a main character who struggles with trying to fit in because of his eating disorder. Angus has struggled with obesity all his life, and a main cause is bullying. People bully him not only because of his weight, but also because of his homosexual parents; because it’s the 1980s, the LGBT community is not socially accepted. Crutcher demonstrates throughout the story how all Angus wants to be is normal. No kid wants to grow up being different

Since the beginning of time, the perfect body image always have mattered. Angus brutally stated that “I’d be sure willing to go into the winter trade meetings and swap reflexes, biceps, and brain cells, lock, stock, and barrel, for a little physical beauty” (9). The culture that he has grown up in has taught him, and many others, to live in a society that believes looks are more important than smarts. The main idea that Crutcher is trying to get across is that no one should listen to society and decide who's beautiful and who's not by what someone else says. Melissa Lefevre is the love of Angus’s life, even if she doesn't know that. Angus believes that he is not deserving of her, so he explains “You ache a lot more when you're a fat kid, though, because you know she was put on earth, out of your reach, only to make you feel bad. You have no business trying to touch her” (13). Angus accepts that since she is the goddess of the high school, he doesn't deserve her, and thinks he's not allowed to date someone as pretty, or skinny, such as Melissa. What he doesn't know is that Melissa suffers from bulimia. 10 million females and 1 million males suffer from bulimia in the United States (11). After he finds out this information about her he begins to realize not everyone is perfect, and other people have flaws just like