a clash between me and Karl

      In case you hevn' seen my last post, "Tales of the madmen Underground" by John Barnes is about Karl Shoemaker who is dealing with his hippie,alcoholic mother,a crazy teacher and attempting to get out of his therapy group. In the book i notice that Karl is going through some internal and external issues. Somme of which i don't think that he is personally handling them right. Then again,i don't live in what he calls a "house that is basically a litter box"

Karl has many problems but let's start with some external problems. He is constantly getting bullied by Harris and Tierden who are not very bright. He is also dealing with his all American loving ELA teacher coach Gratz. This isn't a good position to be in. Also he's dealing with his impulsive ,alcoholic,drug addict,hippie mother who owes him about $1000,mostly spent on drugs and liquor. He is actually handling it pretty well. If my mother where to be that frustrating i would scream and should at her until i am blue in the face. He just deals with is and moves on i admire that.

Karl also has problems on the inside. For example, he is struggling to figure out whether or not to keep a relationship going with  his old friend Paul. They might not stay together for what I'm about to explain. Karl wants to do what he calls "operation be f***ing normal". This is when he attempts to act normal one day at a time. This is where me and Karl clash in ideas. I am me and any friends i make by trying to be someone else wouldn't really be my friends. Karl thinks that by being normal he will have a better life. This is not true. He wouldn't  be happy with himself which is not a good way to live. I think he should necessarily just be him.

In conclusion Karl Shoemaker has many external and internal problems,and i don't think he's handling it that well. He should just be himself and anyone who says otherwise is just being annoying. To quote Kurt Cobain "I would rather be hated for who i am, than loved for I am not" I think that Karl should act like this and he would be less miserable. Then again I don't know if it's good for him to not try to be normal.


What is your opinion on how he's handling it? Post in comments section below