Theme: Sickness and Suffering

Sickness is an obvious theme within Stitches: A Memoir. David is sick for most of his youth; to him it was constant and inescapable. He spent a lot of this time in the dark and unable to talk about it with his family. David suffered a lot because of this as well. He was alone in his sickness and it effected his life greatly. He expressed though Stitches that after his surgery that he became invisible, leading to most of his high school years being unnoticed by his family as well as his friends. David suffered a lot as a child even, if his trip to visit his Grandma Murphy's can weight in on his already bleak life. She physically and emotionally beats him down. David sees firsthand the distaste people have for him through the acts of this "crazy" old woman. One can only wonder where this behaviour came from and who has been filling Grandma's ears full of reason for this reaction. This situation causes further suffering fro David when he tries to tell his mother about it and she stops him, angrily in his tracks, turning the situation back on him. She implies to David's young self that it must have been his fault. David clearly thinks he must have deserved this punishment as he is no deep in his suffering that he can justify these actions. 

 

David also had trouble sleeping post cancer and surgery. He felt as if the screaming in his head would ultimately never stop, and ended up spending many nights awake with the lights on. As if this wasn't a clue to his mental state, Betty just angrily shouted about the cost of the electricity bill and caused further damage by sending David away to boarding school, creating a further separation between him and the family.

Yet, the strongest display of suffering that we see in David comes from his dreams. The most prominent is when he dreams of himself as a young bat who is literally abandoned and left to weather the storm all by himself as he cries for help. This is an immense look into the relationships in this life and the obvious lack of love and security. 

On the flip side, Betty carries quite the amount of suffering herself. She must have lived a rough childhood, if Grandma Murphy's treatment of David is anything to go by. The suffering that she faced as a child has stuck with her throughout her adult life and she has transferred this attitude onto her family. Betty is also repressing and hiding her love of women. David catches her with Mrs. Dillon one afternoon in his teenage years. If she didn't resent him before she can definitely resent him for catching her in this compromising position. Betty is never able to truly be herself, having a family and a husband. She struggles to maintain her normal life regardless of how much she compromises when it comes to taking care of David and her family. She seems to value the materialistic things that represent the ideal of a happy life. When she is able to go on a shopping spree thanks to Ed's possible promotion she fills up her life with things, and yet is still not happy. 

This a a link that Betty may have found helpful in the struggles of having a child who was frequently sick. It may have helped her bond with David rather than pushing him away.

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/chronic-illness-child.aspx 

Small, David. Stitches: A Memoir--. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.