Upon finishing my latest read, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, and upon starting this post I realized something. I must change the title of this quotation series, Cheerful Thoughts, immediately. Not all thoughts are cheerful, and if all I ramble on about is cheer, no one will ever learn a damn thing.
A coworker warned me to prepare to cry, and so I assumed I would. I cry over everything. I cried watching Remember the Titans as a child and again last week while dog-sitting for Michael (the only time I have access to television). After countless watches, I still ball every time at the end of Moulin Rouge, Big Fish, and Almost Famous. To Kill a Mockingbird (novel and film) brings on the tears, as does One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (novel and film). The most hysterical crying I’ve ever unleashed during a film or novel was as an eleven-year-old when mom took me to The Pianist in theaters. Oh, man. “Honey, should we leave?” She must have asked me five times.
I cry hardest when the story is most gut-wrenching, most unbearable, most real…which is why I’m surprised The Boy in the Striped Pajamas left me dry-eyed. The perspective of the story comes from nine-year-old Bruno, a sheltered and naive little boy with a grand heart. There are no cold, hard facts as to the setting and time of Bruno’s story, just the little bit of evidence he provides from his experiences and your own historical knowledge of the cold, hard world. I could have guessed the unspeakable ending, but I didn’t because it is impossible to believe. Bruno’s beautiful innocence is why I did not cry. But in the absence of wet eyes I was left with a heavy heart and bewilderment from not knowing what to do now.
Do something great, and don’t ever lose your sweetness. And never be so naive to think that only love makes up this world.
I leave you with the words of Randle P. McMurphy:
“Which one of you nuts has got any guts?”
Sunny Styles 