A Million Little Pieces 2

As I continued reading the autobiography A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, the changes in his behaviors and thoughts were remarkable. The first hundred pages vividly depicted James throwing up, having brutal surgeries and a horrible detox. This weeks reading was a change in pace, James wrote about himself aknowledging and appreciating other people, and becoming a slightly less negative and harsh person.
During this section, James tried to leave the rehab center to use drugs and alcohol until he dies. He's stopped by a man named Leonard, who convinces him to stay for just 24 more hours. This day that he promised to stay ended up being crucial to his development in rehab. During this day, he enjoys watching a football game with fellow patients, has positive interactions with many other patients, and things start looking up for him. Then, visitors come for him and he writes, "I do not look forward to seeing People from my past. They rarely have kind things to say to me and I have always done something to deserve their disdain" (125). His brother and two friends come to visit him, and are very positive, forgiving, hopeful, and sincerely glad to see him. After they voice their emotion-filled concerns and hope to James, he writes about his brother, "He starts to break and seeing him start to break makes me start to break and I don't want that. He steps forward and he puts his arms around me and he hugs me and I hug him and it feels good and strong and pure and real. This is my Brother, my Blood, the only thing in this World created from that which i was created from, the Person in this World who knows me best, the Person who would miss me most if I was gone. That he cared enough to come here and that he cares enough to nearly break in front of me means something" (133). Just knowing that someone cares for James gives him a reason to fight his disease and stay alive, and makes him appreciate something in life. Before he went to rehab, James wouldn't have accepted love from anyone, and his enjoyment from the visit shows us his growth in recognizing people and his effect on them. Also, because they forgot the problems in the past, James realizes that maybe he actually can start over.
James lets people impact him during this section. He listens to a fellow patient's story about when he hit bottom, and symathizes with him, "I wonder where he is and what he's thinking, and as I replay his story in my mind, it becomes more and more devastating. Although he wasn't on SSkid Row or in a Ghetto or in a Crackhouse, and although he still has a job and a Family and a life, he lost the most important thing a human being can lose, which was dignity" (156). Previously, James blocked out others stories or lectures, but when he finally allowed himself to listen, his feelings toward this man show his awareness of other people. James story and acceptance of other people tell us that he is a good man, who has just done bad things. Hope for James improves during this section, and reading this book makes me want him to succeed more and more.