Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here

In the book “There Are No Children Here” written by Alex Kotlowitz, there is a passage where one of the main characters, Lafeyette is attempting to convey his troubled thoughts to his mother through obscurities. Due to the sudden death of his friend Bird Leg, he tells his mother that his dead friend’s spirit is appearing and trying to tell him something. Unfortunately, even though his mother, LaJoe tries to get him to verbalize his thoughts and feelings. His only reply to the death of his friend is quoted as saying, “That talking wasn’t going to help him, that every-thing that goes wrong keeps going on and everything that’s right doesn’t stay right.” (55) In his quote, there is depth to his view on life around him that one can interpret by reading between the lines. He

I can think of two accounts were keeping thoughts and feelings over tragedy bottled up inside can become harmful for a person. The first account I can recall would be of a close friend of mine Nathan during high school. Towards the end of senior year he had accidentally gotten his girlfriend Sarah pregnant. After a routine check-up during the third trimester with the obstetrician as to the health status of the unborn child, it was discovered that their child would be born with a disease called Spina Bifida. The doctors had assured them that they would take precautions during the delivery to expedite the delivery. In addition, their child would also be rushed into surgery for a brain stent in an attempt to drain excess buildup of fluids that was causing brain damage. Unfortunately, the stress of the delivery was too much on their unborn child. Afterwards, due to the loss of their unborn child, Sarah had attempted suicide. This is undoubtedly a clear example as to the significance that LaJoe believed in verbalizing tragic grief to