David Small Initial Therapy Analysis

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

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