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David Small Initial Therapy Analysis

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Question: During David’s therapy sessions some rather strange or surprising elements appear. What is their significance? During the initial therapy there are two particular moments that stand out above the rest of David Small’s sessions: the period of rain on pages 259 through 265, and the illustration of David’s therapist as a big white rabbit. These two elements show both the beginning and the end of David’s struggle with mental illness, as well as how influential and symbolic Alice in Wonderland was to David Small. Shortly after the surgery where the doctors had to remove David’s vocal cord, David has a strange dream (pp. 196-200) about a bat in the rain looking for an umbrella. The bat is trying to find his mother, which apparently is an umbrella, as well as a very damaged and overall useless umbrella on that note. The dream is symbolic for two upcoming elements in the book, the abrupt storm that is David’s mental illness, and the worthless umbrella that is David’s mother. The events proceeding are more than enough evidence toward my claim: David’s family hiding the truth about his surgery from him …show more content…

The therapist very calmly tells David that his mother does not love him (p. 255), since it was a therapist who had told David this, and not his brother, or his father, or anyone else present in David’s life, there was a very mystical understanding of this phrase. I believe that if anyone else had told David that his mother didn’t love him, then he would have understood, but he wouldn’t have truly understood. It’s a moment that provides a great sense of understanding but you are unable to explain what that understanding is. David’s therapist continued to show David more support than David’s parents could ever attest to: comforting David constantly (p.268), showing concern about David’s weight (p. 269), along with acknowledging the blossoming artist within David

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(p.30). The evidence of abuse in Dave is going to make teachers aware of the abuse at home. Dave, who has been tremendously starved obviously will show sign of malnutrition and an angular body which will make teacher question if he is getting food from home and might call authorities. Also the marks, bruises and scars that are all over his body shows sign of abuse that the teachers will catch on too.

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When housekeeper and babysitter of David, Marie Little Soldier, falls ill, David’s parents privately discuss Uncle Frank’s treatment to patients. Much to David’s curiosity, he eavesdrops in the conversation, hearing, “Wesley, your brother is raping these women. These girls. These Indian girls” (Watson 36). Not only is David shocked to hear such words from his mother, but also these statements were directed to his Uncle Frank, the same man who he praised.

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When David makes the decision to stay and listen in on his parent's mysterious adult conversation, he knows he shouldn’t but being a young adventurous boy, oblivious of the cruel and unforgiving grown world, he stays back and listens to his parents reveal a side of the dark adult world David had not yet known about. “...a part of me said leave, get away, run, now before it's too late. Before everything changes. But I pressed myself closer to the house and hung on.” This idea of a curious child that just wants a little taste of the mysterious and yet unknown adult life relates to the universal idea of growing up.

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916 Words | 4 Pages

This reminds Dave of seeing the baby wide awake during the night, not making a sound. In the episode, Alice became very vocal about the baby trying to kill her. She becomes hysteric claiming that her newborn baby has it in for her. In the short story, Alice “was going to kill the baby”

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Rose’s parents get in the huge argument about what is happening to Rose but her father is in full denial “What is that your professional Opinion?... I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap on you…have you talked to her”(1). With Rose’s father being in denial it is causing him to treat her different. With him being a psychiatrist he probably see how people with mental illness are treated on a daily. He would know how

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Erik Larson uses this simile and strong words that place a vivid image to further emphasize how the city continues to get dirtier as time goes by and more people move to Chicago. Larson wrote how as the city grew in population and in size the more dangerous and filthy the city became. The simile “like pus from a wound” paints a vivid image in the reader 's mind on how dirty the streets of Chicago are by using a simile that the readers would understand. Furthermore, Larson also uses strong words such as “oozed,” “muck,” and “swelled” to further paint an imagery of the contaminated streets and to show the continued growth of the filth in Chicago. This simile further helps Larson create a better image of how the city of Chicago has become contaminated.

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Thus, in “The Chrysalids”, John Wyndham demonstrates the reality and logic behind extreme conformism, leading to discrimination and persecution through the use of characterization, literary devices as well as emotionally-evocative from the audience. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Wyndham desires to voice his opinions on conformism through the characterization of various deviant characters such as David, Sophie, Mary, and more. Thus, to convey his message more effectively, this is made clear when analyzing their characters. For example, when Mary had advised David not to tell anyone, nor think about his abnormal dream about the city he had imagined before God had sent Tribulations; where a magnificent city is bordered by the ocean, although he has never seen the sea – it was uncommon for others to imagine such things in their wake or sleep (pg.5). Other examples of protecting other deviations instead of conforming to the societal norms of turning them in would be when David

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These two quotes illustrate how the room serves as a powerful metaphor for David’s inner conflicts and sense of displacement. The same could also be said for Giovanni, since he also felt out of place in the room. However, he was willing to grow and change in the room, unlike David. My first example quote is “The room was full of him, of his presence, of his reality; it was the outward and visible sign of him, of Giovanni, as I was the outward and visible sign of him, of Giovanni, as I was the outward and visible sign of me.” This quote reflects how the room embodies Giovanni's Essence and presence, symbolizing his influence on David's life and

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When they both wanted physical intimacy they showed fear at first, but when they bluntly vocalized consent the experience was running much smoother. The author purposely includes, “it was me who pulled off his jumper” (41) to show how the tables have turned and now she exerts the power. The narrator acknowledging herself with “it was me” aims to contradict the initial internal fight with herself that she was experiencing when she was trying to take her clothes and her family had to help her since she was unable to do so. David’s and the narrator’s disability is displayed by the comment of pornography not being included in “bodies like ours” (41), yet this doesn’t seem to be a problem for her as much as it seems for David. The assertion of the narrator’s identity is slowly reflected when she has a positive approach to her history of sexual abuse.

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1018 Words | 5 Pages

This shows the change David has made with his views and choices. In the beginning of the book, David wished for extra arms as a harmless joke only to realize that making that joke costed him and got beat by his father. David then kept quiet as he didn’t want to express his own feelings due to trauma he has suffered. By the end of the book, David runs away with his friends in protest to his father’s rules and to express who he truly is. From the beginning of the book to the end, David has shown examples of him changing who he is as a person for the better.

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1320 Words | 6 Pages

It is telling that the physical space of Giovanni’s room feels detached from the rest of the world, as David is detatching his sexualtiy from the rest of the world. In a sense, David is hiding his sexuality in Giovanni’s room, which lets the room become repressive. While it could be a safe haven, where David could be free in his homosexuality as “time flowed past indifferently above us, hours and days had no meaning” (75), David let’s the indifference of time and the sea of Giovanni’s room suffocate him. It is interesting that David reiterates Giovanni’s point, that time does not care about how one spends their life; as time is indifferent. However, this has a negative connotation for David, because he is still unable to accept his sexuality.

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(Rehman, Kazmi, Perveen, 2016). David towards the end of his story began to think that death was the only way he could escape the abuse. David’s story is the story of many other children around the world who suffer from physical, emotional and mental abuse, these children are in search of a light in the darkness for many years and David’s light in the darkness was his father in the beginning of the book but that drastically changed further on.

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1282 Words | 6 Pages

He is able to share and discuss what is being taught to him in his school to his telepathic group through thought shapes. According to David, “It was a great satisfaction to learn and know more, it helped to ease one over a lot of puzzling

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780 Words | 4 Pages

But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle!”. It is however true that Alice has created these events and these characters in her dream world and they don’t necessarily symbolize her emotional condition. They can simply be figments of her imagination and constitute a natural response to her confusion about adulthood and growing up. The

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