The Body

          We often compare our lives to four seasons- spring to childhood, summer to youth, fall to midlife, and winter to old age. Spring is a fresh start. Everything begins afresh. When hearing the word ‘spring’, an image full of cherry blossoms and songbirds singing pops into your head. ‘Summer’ is might be the busiest season of four. The rain keeps blocking your way. Sometimes a disastrous storm rages and makes you return to the initial, so that you have to start over. Thunder crashes the world. But fall, you get relaxed. No more storms, no more thunders or rains, just silence. Sometimes it even appears desolate. Realizing more than half of a year has passed, you feel sad, and suddenly becomes sentimental and introspective. Winter, you watch things leave. All you can do is to vacantly look out living things die and the world freezes. You wait till a year ends.

          The work ‘fall’ mainly has two meanings, first one referring to ‘autumn’ and second one referring to ‘an act of coming down suddenly to a lower position’. The word ‘fall’ from [The Body]’s subtitle. Fall from Innocence, may refer to both of these.

          ‘Fall’ may refer to autumn, when people become introspective. [The Body] is a story of four boys. But before it is a story about four boys, it is a memoir of one person, Gordie. He reminisces his experience of finding the dead body as an adult. So the ‘fall’ may refer to ‘autumn’, with a grown-up man reminiscing his past days.

          ‘Fall’ may also refer to ‘coming down suddenly to a lower position’, and therefore, ‘fall from innocence’ might mean losing innocence. [The Body] is a story of four boys. But before it is a story about four boys, it is a memoir of one person, Gordie. He reminisces his experience of finding the dead body as an adult. Most stories, especially those talking about memories of childhood, have ‘innocence’ as a main theme. Adults, who know their way around, find something valuable in their childhood. Leading a busy, hectic life, they forget their childish innocence and some precious values. They eventually find those in their past life, and start a new life with refreshed heart. Nonetheless, since the title is ‘fall from innocence’, I expect something more than finding the precious value in adult’s overwhelming routine life.

          The story has four main characters. Crazy Teddy who got his head shoved by his father, cool Chris who doesn’t appear to be a model student, and unintelligent Vern who ran two miles to be with his friends. Lastly, Gordie the narrator. As a friend of Teddy, Chris, and Vern, Gordie has his own trauma too. Deep in his heart, he has a wound from his brother Denny’s death. Deep in his heart, he has a hidden but desperate craving to be loved. These four boys, different yet similar, start journey on themselves. Boys’ friendship appears to be different from those of girls’. They aren’t like girls’ intimate, secretive, and quirky. They are more firm, frank, and straightforward. Or maybe this is a bias as a girl who’s never actually experienced so-called ‘man’s friendship’. Teddy, Chris, Vern, and Gordie appears disharmonious on the outside. And I wish to see how friendship works for those four boys.