The Other, Post 6

The last few chapters of novel The Other, written by David Guterson, tell the reader about Neil’s quest to bring closure to his relationship with his late friend John William. Since John William died in his backcountry cave, Neil has had many mixed emotions about John William and Neil’s role in his life. On one hand, Neil knows that he was John William’s only friend. Neil probably did John William lot of good by visiting him frequently, bringing him food and necessities in his cave, and staying in touch with John William even when John William became a social pariah. However, Neil also has a nagging and deep-rooted guilt that he let John William down by allowing him to die in his cave. Neil feels that he should have checked on John William more, encouraged John William to live somewhere safer than a cave, or even turned John William in to park authorities in order to keep him alive. Finally, Neil feels like he has betrayed the ever-private John William by spilling his story across newspaper, magazine and television headlines. Overall, the conflict that John William’s life posed is something that Neil is having a very hard time resolving for himself.

Neil decides to contact John William’s divorced parents, Rand and Ginny, to talk about John William with them. He wants to apologize to them for keeping John William’s life in a cave secret. Also, Neil seems to be looking for more understanding about John William and what caused him to lead such an extreme lifestyle. While talking to Rand, Neil learns a lot about John William’s childhood. Rand, who has been holding in a lot of emotion about his divorce and failed family, divulges quite a bit of information. Rand tells Neil that John William’s mother refused to comfort the baby John William when he cried, and physically abused her son. Rand also emphasizes that John William was a very intense person from childhood. He recollects a time when John William stayed up all night working on a telescope instead of doing his homework, because John William felt that “The stuff they teach you at school is just so they can own you” (242). Rand believes that the bad parenting that John William received caused him to express ideas such as the one in this quote, and insists that John William’s death was not Neil’s responsibility. Ginnie, on the other hand, doesn’t have much to say to Neil because she has become senile with old age. However, Ginnie does express her deep regret and loathing for the way her life turned out. She yells to Neil, “I was born in the wrong place and time! I was trapped!” (253). Clearly, the unhappiness and cruelty of his mother, and the ineffectiveness of his detached father had negative effects on John William. However, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that his parents and childhood were the sole causes of John William’s withdrawal from society. John William was someone who had strong beliefs and refused to budge from them, and these traits were intrinsic to him. They were not caused by his childhood—many children are abused in similar ways to John William, and almost none end up leading a life like John William’s. Neil feels, and I agree, that John William was born with characteristics that caused him to retreat to a cave later in life. Therefore, Neil gains more knowledge about John William from his conversations with Rand and Ginnie, but not more understanding of why John William was the way he was.

As for Neil—he carries on his comparatively average life as a school teacher until he accepts the $440,000,000 that John William left Neil in his will. After receiving this money, Neil quits his job, but continues living in the same way that he did before his windfall. Neil understands that he is a compromiser and a hypocrite—like John William, Neil also has strong beliefs, but unlike John William, Neil bends these beliefs to make them fit into the parameters of his life. Neil explains this decision by telling readers, “When I think about John William now, I think about someone who followed through, and then I’m glad not to have followed through, to still be breathing, to still be here with people, to still be walking in the mountains…I’m a hypocrite, of course, and I live with that, but I live” (254). Neil’s relationship with John William has taught Neil to examine his life and make sure that he is comfortable with the choices that he is making. I think this is an important theme of the book: it is okay to make hypocritical choices if you understand why you are making them and can reconcile yourself with them.

Throughout the book, I really enjoyed the writing. One aspect of the writing that I especially liked was the accuracy to the eras that the author, Guterson, was writing about. For example, when writing about the 1970s and 1980s, Guterson brought up popular music and fads from those periods as he wrote. Additionally, Guterson referenced current events and movements when he was writing about the present time period. The book and characters seemed very life-like when they mentioned George Bush or Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in their conversations. Another interesting characteristic of Guterson’s writing was that the main character, Neil, seems to have a lot in common with Guterson himself. Although I don’t know much about Guterson, I do know that he lives in Washington, like Neil. Also, Neil is an English teacher and an aspiring writer—two things that could easily be true of Guterson as well. Finally, at the end of the book, Neil tells of his intentions to write a book about his friend John William. Neil’s book would undoubtedly be similar to Guterson’s book, The Other, and it’s easy to imagine that The Other is indeed Neil’s account of John William. While I know that The Other is a work of fiction, these similarities serve to bring Neil and his story to life.

Work Cited:

Guterson, David. The Other. New York: Random House, 2008.