Truth is the most frustrating theme seen within Stitches: A Memoir. The search for the truth in Stitches was a constant struggle whether David realized it or not.
Getting sick for David was a normal occurrence along with trips to the hospital and checkups. When David first got the lump on his neck this was where the idea of the truth really started to hit home. It may not have been clear to an eleven year old boy, but the fact that something was wrong was very clear to the readers. This was made even clearer when the need for a second surgery and a specialist was required. But everything was just fine.
Due to the huge lack of communication within the Small family there was no talking about what was happening. Yet, regardless of all the stress, pressure and cancer, Betty still kept this vital information to herself, maintaining that everything was normal, like any other family.
This normalcy that Betty was maintaining while living a lie herself. Her relationship with Mrs. Dillon was a bit of a surprise but not out of the box considering her detachment from her family.
Guilt is the ugly sister of truth; it has quite a place within Stitches: A Memoir. Both Betty and Ed Small had their moments where their guilt got the better of them. Ed displayed his guilt first clouded in another lie, while visiting David post surgery number one. Where he came to nervously check to see how David was feeling, saying unconvincingly "Doesn't he look great?" and follows up with a quick, "I told you nothing was wrong." The manner in which Ed interjected himself into this situation seems unusual, and yet is another trigger to the lack of truth.
Betty follows up on this guilt trip with one of her own when she visits David late at night between surgeries, offering to right a wrong by doing something for David. She is overwhelmed with her guilt yet still wont tell the truth.
The last two demonstration of guilt come from Ed Small. First when his face does more communicating than anyone in the family ever has. His guilt is engraved into his very fibre when David confronts them about his Cancer, and again when he admits that it was his fault that David had cancer in the first place. Ed's guilt rocked him to the core; he felt defeated in the admission of these things.
On the not about truth here is an article that supports Betty's decision to keep David's cancer from him, at least initially.
Small, David. Stitches: A Memoir--. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.
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