Memory novel studie part 2

Tuesday, May 25th, 2012

Novel study: Memory

As I keep reading about this book I start to realize what it is exactly about and how it has a big connection when it comes to resilience and how our character shows resilience as the book goes on.

So for a quick recap on my previous post, we know that Johnny who is the main character is a drunk guy who is going through a lot because his sister Janinne had sadly passed away in a tragic accident. We had not yet learned of her cause of death in the previous post but we do know that Johnny is in the grieving phase. We also learned that he is on a journey to find Janinne's best friend Bonny because she was the other witnesses to his siter's death. Upon trying to find the bonny he comes upon Bonny's family who basically gets him drunker. They also question why he was there and whether or not it had to do with the march. We last left off with Johnny on a car ride with Bonny's Mum because Bonny wasn't home and he was too drunk to get home.

So what is new? We have now discovered that Johnny once again has awoken in a place he is unfamiliar with and he is now trying to remember his name and the events that lead him there. As he is trying to remember the events of last night he then remembers his sister's death. Right now we learn that Jannine has died after she fell off of a bridge and her scream was faint then silent. Johnny described that it was like a humming song. We also know that Bonny must have been on the opposite side of where Johnny was when they witnessed the accident. I have now learned thank's to the book that I can now tell you that all of Johnny's friends wish that he had been the one to fall and not her. 

So Johnny is now trying his best to find a way home when a whiff of sounds that he wasn't meant to hear stop's him in his tracks. The sound is nothing bad or scary but it did make him take a detour and follow whatever the sound is.  This eventually leads him into an unfamiliar street that then takes him to shop's and those shops lead him to tinner shops. As he continues to walk he can hear Bonny's voice in his head along with memories of her. For example, he has a flashback to when he, Bonny, and Jannine use to laugh about Bonny having powers of predicting and that when the day came he wished that Bonny could reverse time to get back his sister but sadly as we all know that wish couldn't come true. 

By reading this book I feel that Johnny is more resilient than I thought! I empathize with him because his friend blames him and he probably feels a lot of survivor's guilt. I also think that Johnny not just has grief but also has PTSD. I think that he has Bonny as a voice in his head because Bonny was his sister's best friend. I also think he uses this voice for gudience. I think it is nice that he is going in this Journey so maybe he could get better.