“Nearly all men are afraid, and they don’t even know what causes their fear – shadows, perplexities, dangers without names or numbers, fear of a faceless death. But if you can bring yourself to face not shadows but real death, then you need never be afraid again, at least not in the same way you were before. Then you will be a man set apart from other men, safe where other men may cry in terror.” (26)Every one of us has some kind of fear. Some are afraid of darkness; some cannot bear the thought of death. But actually not darkness frightens us, but what is within it. Not death is what we fear, but suspense. And facing your fear instead of avoiding it is the most effective cure. I think that Cyrus Trask realized that among two brothers Adam was weaker and needed hardening. He must have wanted his son to become a mature, self-confident and brave man and what better place to make him one than army? When you find yourself in a situation you cannot avoid… Only when you face danger, you start to truly understand that it’s not as terrifying as the simple thought of it.
“Is it true that when you love a woman you are never sure — never sure of her because you aren’t sure of yourself?” (69)Cyrus Trask treated his sons quite differently. He was very strict with Adam, but nevertheless he loved him. But Adam had no warm feelings to his parent. He hated him, because Cyrus was punishing and offending him very often. On the other hand Charles loved his father, but was neglected. He was very jealous of his brother, because he had something Charles desired most – his father’s love. He tried so hard to win his father’s approval, and still Adam was the favorite son with no efforts made. He always felt uncertain and that’s why he so easily believed that his father was a thief and a liar, despite the pain it caused him. How could he ever be sure of a man, who always made him feel unsure of himself?
“Maybe we all have in us a secret pond where evil and ugly things germinate and grow strong. But this culture is fenced, and the swimming brood climbs up only to fall back. Might it not be that in the dark pools of some men the evil grows strong enough to wriggle over the fence and swim free? Would not such a man be our monster, and are we not related to him in our hidden water? It would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them.” (132)Some children are born imperfect. They may have perfectly normal parents, but somehow are born without a hand or a leg or with a disease. But not only body, a child’s soul can be damaged too. What if a small crack was growing bigger and bigger though all of her life, until the …