*Note: Spoilers ahead* This is the cumulative experience of Shuggie from the 2020 Booker Prize-winning novel Shuggie Bain . Through this, I would like to highlight how life had been unfair for the boy, who lived through loss and anxiety all through his childhood in hopes of some escape from the desolation he had experienced. Alone without a father and his two siblings, Shuggie takes on the role of a caretaker, ensuring his mother doesn’t drink herself into an early grave. In his loneliness and misery, the only thing that remains untainted is the almost blinding devotion and love he has towards his mother -- the same disruptive alcoholic who, in her clouded, drunken haze, is unable to see anyone but herself as having some value. Her desperate, humiliating practices leave her incapable to raise her children, two of whom remove themselves from the situation as early as possible. Shuggie stays behind to care for his mother because he loves her -- for her matted mink coat and her...
The echo chamber can be especially loud some days and difficult to escape. Here are stories that aim at providing you that escape while raising awareness about stuff you need to know.