Summary Of The Burn Journals By Brent Runyon

The Burn Journals, a memoir written by Brent Runyon, leaves a lot of impressions on the readers about having perseverance and determination. At the age of 14, Brent attempted to commit suicide by dousing himself in gasoline. After that, he had to receive treatment through the multiple hospitals he stayed in. Brent Runyon is able to create his real-life experience into an intriguing story that is also able to teach the readers a message to escape hardship. Towards the beginning of the book, there are few events that occur. As a result, Runyon, who was in the hospital, was not active and constantly had repetitive thoughts. One of them he had continually were about “surgery. They took more skin from my stomach and moved it to the spots that were open on my arms and legs. When I wake up, the tubes are already out of my mouth, extubated, which is good, I hate those tubes” (Runyon 42). However, as the story progressed, Brent starts recovering

He does not want others to go through his pain because of all the adversity he went through. His actions also troubled many of the people around him, like friends and family. In addition to wanting the readers to learn from his experiences, I also believe that he wants to remind himself of his past. Therefore, he can witness the improvements he has made. In the start of the book, he believes that “your body tries to keep you alive no matter what you do. [However, he’s trying] to think of a way to kill [himself] that [he] can’t turn back from” (Runyon 13). Eventually, after receiving several treatments and hospitals, he finally makes the conclusion that “you only get to live for such a short time anyway. It doesn’t make sense to kill yourself” (Runyon 170). Brent is trying to teach himself and the readers that life is worth living for no matter what because anything in the future can change your