Shelby Witzman English 1 March 6th Lesson 4 Essay Throughout the book, Challenger Deep, Caden draws many pictures that reflect his slow descent into madness as the book progresses. Caden, a schizophrenic patient, is portrayed as the main character in Challenger Deep. Caden is slowly falling into a state of madness as his mind is consumed by his ever-growing mental illness that is symbolized in the book by Caden’s artwork. As Caden’s artwork slowly deconstructs, he uses it to convey his thoughts and feelings, as well as his identity onto the paper for all to see. Caden uses his artwork to portray his thoughts, embodying his thoughts. In chapter nine, the parrot, which symbolizes Caden’s therapist, talks to Caden about the sign that reads “You are not the first person and you will not be the last.” This references to how Caden is not the first person, and will not be the last, to be changed due to mental illnesses. The parrot in chapter 9 also tells Caden to “write down everything it says.” This prompts Caden to furiously draw what comes into his mind, following what the parrot had told him to. It also shows, later in the story, where Caden is desperate to draw his thoughts into the paper before they disappear. Caden uses these …show more content…
In chapter nineteen, Caden and his friends, Max and Shelby, get together and continue their online game development. Caden uses Shelby’s character description to draw out the design for their online character. Caden states that “my artwork is not evolving, its deconstructing, and I don’t know why.” Through this, we can see Caden trying to find himself though his artwork while it is unraveling. Although Caden is confused as to why this is happening to him, he didn’t stop drawing and manifesting himself onto the paper. All the while, he is curious about what is happening to his drawing ability, prompting Caden to further explore himself to figure it