Water On The Brain Analysis

The narrator begins by telling a story of how he was born “with water on the brain.” Actually, the narrator did not exactly know what the “water on the brain” meant, because as he later says, “that’s not exactly true,” indicates that he did not know what he was suffering from. Using a medical term, cerebrospinal fluid to describe his medical condition is an indication that he is beginning to understand it: “I was actually born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside my skull.” Medically, this is hydrocephalus, a condition that occurs when fluid builds up in the skull and causes the brain to swell. Brain damage can occur as a result of the fluid buildup. This can lead to developmental, physical, and intellectual impairments. Knowing this, after a successful surgery, the narrator says, “I was supposed to suffer serious brain damage…and live the rest of my life as a vegetable.” However, he says he has “all sorts of physical

In the midst of poverty, he, however, says, “I can’t blame my parents for our poverty, because my mother and father are the twin suns around which I orbit and, my world would EXPLODE without them.” The narrator was not deterred by their poverty, his physical, and mental challenges. He is so ambitious, and therefore, has confidence in himself that out of his own ability, he will succeed in transforming himself into a composite image of elite personality. This was evidenced in his ability to communicate with the work of art and his enrolment into school. While in school, he faced many challenges that at a point, he was suspended from school after he accidently smashed Mr. P in the