Like Rats in a Cage, A Reply to Charlie

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The letter that I'm replying to is from page 50, and it's a short one. The letter was written on November 12th, 1991. This letter is written pretty early in the story, right after he meets Patrick and Sam, and after he finds out that his sister has a secret boyfriend. I chose to reply to this letter because this early letter really encapsulates Charlie's innocence, despite him already having been to the party and accidentally eating a pot brownie. The narrative he gives about mice and rats in cages is interesting to me as well, as I can metaphorically relate his fascination with the lab experiment his teacher taught him to how he currently feels with Sam and Craig dating.



September 16th, 2016

Dear Charlie,
I think it's great that you love twinkies! Are you sure that it's a reason to live though? I think that coming up with a lot of good reasons to live would do you some good, Charlie. Everybody needs to be reminded about how much they enjoy certain things every once in a while, if not just to ensure that they're still "participating" in life. That's a very interesting lesson that Mr. Z would give you though, and I hope you enjoyed it. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you a little more about the experiment that your teacher told you about. I believe that you relate so much to this experiment because you see yourself as a rat, Charlie. And of course I don't mean that literally, I just think that you can relate to the rats.

You have an aching passion for your friend Sam. Even though you've assured me in your previous letters that you're fine with her dating Craig, I can tell from your correspondence that you're hurt by it, at least a little. Even though hanging out with her hurts you because she's dating Craig, you're okay with that, right? Because it makes her happy, and you're happy that she's happy. And maybe you're willing to put up with it if it allows you to residually experience some of her love.

That's why you relate to the rats, Charlie. They were willing to put up with a lot more voltage in order to experience pleasure than if they were only after food. They withstood the pain to get the pleasure that they were after.

Enjoy your Twinkies, Charlie. But when the voltage gets too high for you to rely on food, just remember who gives you the most pleasure.                                     

Love Always, 
Joey

Comments

  1. Ms LopezSeptember 17, 2016 at 8:26 PM

    That was a pretty good response! I think you're right to tell Charlie that it's okay if he can't tolerate being around Sam while she's dating Craig or if it hurts too much. I like that you talked about the rats and the experiment and furthered the metaphor in your letter. But who do you think gives Charlie the most pleasure? Is it being by himself? Or is it hanging out with Patrick?

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