In this part of the story James Frey reveals his past with someone that he loved. He told the story of his high school girlfriend who he adored to his new lover, Lilly. This seemed to be the chapter of memories and how they can either interfere with the rehab process or end it tremendously. Frey's best friend in rehab was a man named Leonard. When everyone was afraid of Leonard, James was not. This instantly created a mutual liking in the two men. Leonard was said to be a bad influence by the facility staff because he is known to be involved in organized crime. Frey doesn't listen to anybody's rules anyway. He develops a special relationship with Leonard and Leonard tells him the story of how he was brought up after a horrible deaths to both of his parents. Frey, still having both his parents, lost the only person in the world who he loved and this created a strong relationship between him and Leonard. After reading a little about James Frey on the internet, I discovered that Frey thinks of Leonard as the most inspirational man to him in his time of struggle. At times, Leonard was family and helped talked James through things.
James was also very against the idea of believing in a God. I'm not sure if I believe in God or not but I don't think the way James looks at it is right. He, like myself, believes in biology and the nature of evolution. What he doesn't explain is why he hates God so much. One would think that someone in a position similar to his in a facility like the one he is in would be forced to look at God. The program he is in makes the people turn to Jesus as their savior. I think this is a good method because it gives the patients something to believe in. If someone doesn't have belief then curing addiction is impossible.
I think that Frey and Leonard's relationship is important to consider because it is a great representation of looking beyond a person's outer being in order to discover who they truly are. This friendship reminds me a lot of the relationship that the Touhy family and Michael Oher had in my book, In a Heartbeat. It is so important to not always believe what others tell you and to find out who people are for yourself; especially when most of those people may just be misunderstood. A friend can also be a key component in the recovery process so in Frey's case I think it is especially important and beneficial that he found someone he can trust and confide in.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship with Leonard is key to Frey's
ReplyDelete"survival" in rehab. In fact, Frey wrote an entire book based around him. It's called "My Friend Leonard". I'm sure it talks about the relationship with Frey and how it was beneficial. What was weird about their relationship that you can't see in A Million Little Pieces is that they were portrayed as friendly peers. Leonard would occasionally give advice but nothing big. At the end of the novel he talks to Frey and asks him to be his son. Not literally adopting but Leonard wants to be a father figure in Frey's life even if Frey already has one. Leonard wants to play the father figure role. This is key to Frey's survival.