Smithy...

Smithy sure has come a long way hasn’t he?

I mean at the beginning of the book he was a 279-pound drunkard and chain smoker, had horrible social skills, and now look at him! He’s lost weight, is no longer drinking or smoking, and now has found Norma, along with many other friends he’s made along his journey. He’s helped many, in varying different ways, which would definitely hold reason for one thinking that this is a hero’s story.

But there seems to be more than enough information for an argument for this to be a coming-of-age novel as well, for the same reasons as stated above.

So which one is it? Coming-of-age or a Hero’s Journey? Or is it both? Does one rule out the other? What do you guys think? At this point, I’m not sure anymore...

WTF Hospital?! (SPOILERS FOR OCT 31 READING)

Okay. I hope I’m not the only one that got ridiculously mad at the hospital for not even really glancing at Smithy when he brought Carl in. I mean, I understand that Carl was a regular patient that needed medical help badly, but it’s their job to pay attention to everything that’s going on. Seriously, did they NOT notice that Smithy wasn’t even driving the car? Plus, all the doctors treat him like shit, and then yell at him about Carl and then send them on their way. Then we get another scene where the doctor calls the house and threatens Smithy if he hadn’t taken proper care of Carl by the time she got there the next day.

She also brings an officer with her that beats Smithy up, with the intention of only scaring him, and he ends up even worse before they realize, and by realize I mean Carl has to TELL THEM, that he’d hit him with his truck and that he wasn’t the bad guy.

What the hell? There is such thing as having bad luck, but there is a point. I just couldn’t believe how badly this doctor’s first impression turned out for Smithy. Poor Smithy’s had his bike taken away from him, been hit by a truck, been threatened by a doctor, and then beat up by the police officer brought by that same doctor, all in less than 24 hours.

There was just a limit set on how much the world can bear down on Smithy, and the book has pushed past it. It also really just goes to show how detrimental conclusions made about people can really be.

Thoughts?