Friday, May 17, 2019

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn Essay

recap Breathing Underwater by Alex FlinnBreathing UnderwaterBreathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is written as a series of journal entries. The journal is written by nick as an assignment from the judge who also sends him to irritation forethought after the girlfriend he beat up finally presses charges. The book was published in 2001, before the recent increase in dating violence novels, and it tells a story often overlooked, that of the maltreater instead of the abused.Its a delicate subject. And it tells a hard story. Because while gouge is (obviously) not without his faults, he most certainly has his good points as well. And as I acquire I found myself aroma not sympathetic, exactly, but definitely feeling something, more than I thought I would.Initially, incision is aggravated at being forced into these group anger management classes and he hates the idea of having to keep a journal. He doesnt think he has a problem, thinks he just needs to pretend to unmortgaged up a li ttle so he can get Caitlin back up, get the courts out of his verbal expression and e actuallything can be perfect again. Because we are reading Nicks journal, we are privy to his thoughts, his perceptions and misconceptions. hardly we are also able to read between the lines and blemish that we are missing things, both because Nick is leaving them out and because Nick simply doesnt see them.The initial entries into the journal are very sarcastic and emotionless. Its clear that Nick doesnt want to be bothered with a journal and that he thinks its stupid. But as Nicks story progresses, more and more emotions outpouring onto the pages until Nick is really keeping a journal and using it as a way to conspire his thoughts and face up to painful memories and truths.This is a book with astounding character growth. We learn enough nearly Nick throughout the course of the story to know that his vivification is not as easy or golden as his school friends always believed it to be. And C aitlin knew this, which is perhaps the reason that she stayed with him for so long, forgave him so many times. But, fifty-fifty though Flinn offers up Nicks back story, allowing us to get to know who he is and what life experiences have shaped him, she n perpetually excuses or justifies his behavior, and ultimately Nick is not allowed that either.The group anger management class ends up being the best thing that ever happened to Nick, both because of the sympathetic and understanding instructor, and because Nick can see himself in the works of some of the other members of the class and he doesnt like what he sees. For such self-assessment to come from a 16 year old who then takes it and applies it to making himself better is amazing. Nick really grows as a person and while I dont think Caitlin should ever take him back, I also think that he would not easily allow himself to fall back into the patterns of an abusive relationship. He really gets it.This is a story that needed to be told and needs to be read by more people. I dont think enough people know to the highest degree this book and I dont think its one that should be missed. Its painfully hard to read at times. Nick doesnt hide the nasty things he said to Caitlin, because in the beginning, he doesnt think there is anything wrong with what hes done. And then, as he begins to recognize what was wrong with his actions, he starts to expose more of his internal motivations for being so cruel and the thought to action correlation begins to make more sense.Flinn is brave for taking an oft told story and telling the unspoken ramp of things. It would be easy, in a novel about an abuser to make him either evil and wondrous or to justify his behaviors to the point of absolution. But abuse is not a misunderstanding and its seldom so simple as to be the actions of the truly evil. And Flinn has captured that beautifully. Nick is human. He is flawed and over time, he begins to accept that and work toward a change. THIS is what Contemporary is all about. Finding these novels that capture a moment in the human experience and open your eyes to it, make you recognize it for what it is, make you learn and grow as a person and help to open windows of understanding into subjects otherwise closed to us. Every side has both stories and it is a brave writer who can so masterfully tell the unpopular one.

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