Forgotten (The new and improved version)

I've never written in my books.

I've never written notes in the front cover, I've never highlighted certain sentences.

And, now that I think of it, I've never actually folded any pages either.

Therefore, when you see that I've written in one of my books, you know that it's a pretty big deal. It probably means it's either an amazing line, or it just really provoked me. So if you flip to page 139 in my copy of The Wild Things by Dave Eggers, you'll see an attempted form of a bracket. (Drawing brackets is something I just can't do. An attempted bracket of mine looks like a squiggly line gone wrong.)

My bracket encloses this conversation between Max and Carol, one of the Wild Things.

Max and Carol continued down a winding path.
"Do you guys have parents?" Max said.
"What do you mean?" Carol said.
"Like a mother and a father?"
Carol gave Max a puzzled look. "Of course we do. Everyone does. I just don't talk to mine because they're nuts."

When I first read this, I just went right over it. Now don't think I didn't register it at all... I just read it as as I do almost every word in a book. I read it, I thought about it, and I moved on. I didn't spend any extra time on it, I didn't circle/highlight/draw a heart or question mark next to it (Not yet that is). But later on I realized how incredible that short passage was. How amazingly brilliant it felt to read. When I went back to reread that part, I smiled, almost laughed. It gave me a warm feeling that made me feel connected to myself and every character in the book. I still don't know why.

Maybe it was that just then, that I realized the true meaning of this book was to never run away from your anger? And to never run away from your fear? Or your home? Or maybe that if someone was driving you nuts... never to just abandon them? Like Carol did?

The reason Max runs away in the first place was because his whole family was driving him crazy. In comparison to the different ways Max and Carol handled their family conflicts, I found them both at fault. Carol chooses to notassociciate with his family, but at ease bring them into a conversation. Carol isn't embarrassed about who he came from. So maybe not that bad... but still, no speaking with your family? Crazy. Max on the other hand, is ashamed. I think that not only is Max leaving his one family, he is pretending they don't exist. He is trying to live life without them.

Not to mention that in the situation where he does have to bring his family up, he only remembers the bad times they had with each other. He sometimes even adds make believe stories to make his family sound even worse then he already thinks they are.

Just like families go through good times and bad, Max does also. As I said I above, Max definitely has traits that I am not always pleased with or proud of. He is a very angry kid. He ruins things without even realizing it through his frustration for something. And he also does dangerous things when he loses his temper. I guess we'll never really know where Max left to when he ran away to the Wild Things, but he did run away. And all because of a fight? And as much as a love Max... I fight that he started? Those actions make me angry is adisappointed way, I know that Max can do better than that. Now that I feel able to count Max as a person that I know, I have also learned his amazing traits. Traits I hope we can all gain someday... if we already haven't. Max stands out in a crowd the second he enters. I haven't seen him, but I have a feeling that his smile shines like the sun. His imagination is brilliant, and he is very clever. He is a wonderful leader and friend.

So Max, like every thing and person in the World has good and bad sides. But the bad side I'm most worried about, and just hurt by, is that he would ignore, and try to forget his family.

To forget your family, is to forget you.

And as much as I love Max, that's something I can't seem to understand. Maybe his anger... and temper... that's something I can get. It's common for everyone to be angry, even if Max can be a bit more angry than you're average kid. But knowing that Max would forget about his family, makes me remember why I look forward to the end of every fight that I have. When I make up with my family, that is the best part of all. I'm being strong, brave, and I shine when it's over. But that's something I simply don't know if Max has the strength to do.