Laura Gonzalez
Mr. Raftery
English 3AP: 4
10, September 2012

Deepening the Puncture with Hopes of Bliss

There are many novels that hold a theme that can really relate to a person in unique ways, but unlike others Henderson The Rain King shares one strong connection with my personal feelings as well. Henderson talks about how he’s realizing that he is living a life that, unfortunately at his age, believes wasn’t the life he desires. I have and am experiencing a life that I honestly believe is not meant only for me but for a bigger cause. In other words Henderson and I have a problem, a struggle, and a solution to our life changing experiences.

The fight for the freedom of our mind, soul, and body’s core is what makes Henderson and me alike in several ways. Henderson is a man who lives his life with anger, jealousy, unhappiness, and without love. He does what he believes is normal as a descendent of his family, but it seems like his soul has a huge hole through it and he needs to fill it. The question is what is sufficient enough to stop the inside voice that is telling him, “I want I want”. I on the other hand am impatient, anxious, temperamental, but quiet at the same time. All these emotions are due to the fact that I am missing something that is holding me back and leaving my heart empty. I may not have that voice speaking to me but I do have the pain in my heart to prove it. So just like Henderson’s huge hole in his heart, my spirit is slowly dimming each day.

To know that there is a solution to all my misery and impossible to reach because of my age is my greatest struggle. Unlike me, Henderson suffers his entire life trying to find the answer to his torment. Although one of us does have the answer, we endure the struggle of reaching our goal. In the novel, Henderson tries to obtain pleasure and a reconnection with his father’s spirit hoping to find peace there and fails. I am stuck deciding between two things I long for the most in life, which is the most painful experience I have had to overcome in my teenage years. Those two choices are to live with my family in Mexico or to wait as long as it takes to finish my career in medicine here. I know the first might sound inconsiderate of what I have, but I would much rather have a life with a loving family then to be alone with just my studies to rely on. Henderson goes to all extremes to find himself but is never satisfied with the results, and I stay put because I feel like I have no other choice but to have patience. Not only that but we are constantly told what it is that we are missing or lacking in. I truly believe that no one can tell us what we are feeling because it is a feeling beyond our understanding, uncontrollable