Independent Reading: Essential Question (Promt #16, Chapter 1-3)

"Who did the main character want to become? What impact did he have on the world around him?
The essential question this year has applied to the books we have read in class. However, the question can also be asked in my independent reading book.
In the first chapter of my independent reading book, the author (and main character) wrote his story, and his struggle to break out of his repressive state of being. The second chapter, the main character wrote about his going into his repressive state. Chapter three the author wrote about his life before he was taken into a world of drugs, and homelessness. In chapters two and three, the author explains how he had a bight future. He took off after high school, and worked in business. He really didn't have any expectations on the world, but he said that he "conquered considerably less of the world than i imagined i would."( page 23) He believed that eventually he could have a impact on the world around him, it would simply take him longer to do so. It was not until his brother died, that the main character felt he could have a negative impact on another person. He quoted, " it unnerved me to bear witness to the rude influence i had upon him." ( page 23) The main character had always been hard on his brother, because he believed that his brother had no desire to go anywhere. But when his brother came to him sick, homeless, and in trouble, Lee Stinger (main character) felt that it was his own fault for not having a better impact on his brother. When his brother died, Lee went into a spiral of depression, drinking, and smoking anything to take his mind off of his brother. When he finally lost his house, he quoted" There is nothing, anymore, that i am obliged to do." ( page 33) At this moment Lee felt that he no longer needed to have an impact on the world around him. He felt that he did not want to become anything, nor impact anyone. It was not until later that Lee took up writing, and realized that he could have a positive impact on the world around him. Becoming a writer, and telling his stories, brought him back to reality, and out of his repressive downfall. By writing, Lee felt that he could tell others about his life, and perhaps advise them to live differently. Lee Stringer's experiences and troubles, answered his essential question. He wanted to impact the world around him by becoming a writer.