Life brings difficulties to overcome. Some obstacles can disrupt the potential of living life to the fullest. Cal Armistead includes this topic in her novel Being Henry David. The story begins in Penn Station where Hank awakens with no memory of his past. He loses his identity and regains it through painful experiences. The most important lesson is that choosing life means choosing pain because life is full of challenges to confront. A beast guards Hank's memory a formidable creature that shields, as well as frighten Hank from his past. A past that is too difficult for him to understand. This beast has been inside of him since the moment he wakes up at Penn Station to his visit to Concord. While Hank is trying to survive in Concord, he goes to a nearby school for shelter. “Only one true, clear thought slices through my exhaustion: I have to find out who I am, so I can figure out how to get her This is not about me anymore. Even the beast can not keep me from her or prevent me from remembering more. I won’t let it.” The beast is always restricting Hank’s access to his memory whenever an event occurs that is on the verge of allowing him to regain his memory. Hank has to confront the beast even though doing so will be painful. …show more content…
As a result, he attempts to escape his problems by going to Knife’s Edge on Mount Katahdin. There, he is contemplating whether he should jump off to end his life and to escape the beast. “All I have to do is let go of the rock. Stand up, throw my arms out to the sky, and let the wind take me...I Can not die leaving behind the mess that Danny created. And as long as I have life, there’s hope I can live better.” Hank has encountered many challenges. However, falling as a victim of the suicide lane will only make things worse, resulting in his pain to leave, for his fellow loved ones to