Finch is extremely resistant to being labeled, and is aware of all the names people call him and things people say about him, but at the end of the day all of that is better than reducing him to a set of symptoms or a diagnosis. This quote represents the human need to label and categorize the human population, a result of which is the alienation of those who are different from the norm. Not a casualty of shitty parents and an even shittier chemical makeup. Oh, there he goes again, in one of his moods. He thinks of himself as someone messy, someone broken, who will have the same effect on Violet. He can't bear the thought of hurting Violet, so part of him would prefer to push her away. Finch is preemptively trying to stop something before it's had a chance to begin-it is a fear response. He's terrified of hurting her as a result of the broken parts of his brain. Because of his depression, he doesn't trust himself to maintain a healthy relationship with her. He likes her, but he's afraid of himself. 227Īt the outset of their relationship Finch is hesitant to commit to Violet. You should know what you're getting into before getting involved.'" Theodore Finch, pg. But I can't promise I won't pick you apart, piece by piece, until you're in a thousand pieces, just like me. I'll never hurt you, not like I want to hurt Roamer. I can't love anyone because it's not fair to anyone who loves me back. I can't promise you I'll stay around, not because I don't want to. Finch has brought her through to the end of her season of grief, and has given her beautiful, living things during the cold, barren months. In this moment, when he brings her flowers, they count for more than just pretty flowers on a cold day. He noticed her, looked after her, and sympathized with her. She had seriously struggled to move on, but Finch pushed her to get back to her old self and embrace her life in the world of the living. 285īy the end of the novel, Violet has worked through her grief from the loss of her sister. Finch, you brought me spring.'" Violet Markey, pg. Niven challenges the reader to think about the sincerity of human nature, how it is easy to ignore things that aren't immediately obvious.
He's hurting, but no one is sympathetic because it's easy for them to overlook. In this excerpt Finch is wishing that he bore some physical manifestation of his disorder so that the people around him would finally see that he's not making anything up for the sake of attention. They just think he's a troubled kid who needs to get over himself. Because his illness cannot be seen or physically observed in any way by an outsider, his family doesn't believe that he is sick.
15įinch is bipolar, though his diagnosis doesn't come until the end of the novel. "It's my experience that people are a lot more sympathetic if they can see you hurting, and for the millionth time in my life I wish for measles or smallpox or some easily understood disease just to make it easier on me and also on them." Theodore Finch, pg.