Outside Reading #3

Recently, in the last few chapters that I have been reading Craig has sort of appealed to me. Just the fact that he has been trying so hard to "get better" and fit in with everyone else is just making me think of him as someone totally different that what I thought of before. In a way I can relate myself to Craig. When he tries at something, he has to give his 100% and work really hard, and then he gets far. But if he takes a break for example drinking and drugs for him, he gets off track. That’s not the case for me but if I am doing really well for a while I tend to slack off and it’s harder to get into that rhythm of doing well and balancing everything. Craig also reminds me of myself with some of the weird things he does. Things such as noticing small details, or having weird quirks about food. Like Craig, I have a very sensitive stomach. I don’t throw up like he does, but I experience pain from acid dyspepsia. It’s not as serious as what Craig has and it’s definitely not an eating disorder but I do have pain in my stomach often as Craig does. Surprisingly Craig isn’t the depressed kid that rebels against his parents, he embraces them and they support him an unbelievable amount. You would think that Craig is just a regular teenager that doesn’t get along with his family, but that’s so not the story. He gets along with them so well, he even sleeps in the same bed as his mom the nights that he doesn’t feel well. I didn’t fully understand what triggered his depression at first, because even he doesn’t know, but as the story went on I began to realize. I realized that once he did start studying harder for the important test he wanted to take the more and more uptight and anal he got towards people. Instead of hanging out with his friends on Fridays he would sit home and study flash cards repetitively. What I believe started his downfall is after he took the test he felt no need to study and work hard anymore. He took one break at a party and everything seemed to go down in flames after that for Craig. He suddenly wanted to party every weekend, do drugs, drink, etc. Craig wasn’t able to find a balance between work and play. Therefore he ended up at the hospital the night he was thinking about committing suicide. A prediction I have for him in the next coming chapters of the book is replacing his old friends who are bad influences, with new friends that are healthy for him. I predict that there will be tension between him and his choices. Hopefully in the end Craig realizes he needs to find a balance in his life.