This 2014 novel by Dave Eggers is written in a dialogue form, giving a narration of the life of a certain man named Thomas and the accounts in his life. In the novel, Thomas is presented as a madman who is in his thirties. He is constantly troubled without understanding the source of such troubles. His friend, Bahn, had already been shot by the police in an incident that involved shooting. This incident of the killing of a friend constantly haunted Thomas, seeking o get an explanation from different people without really succeeding. To resolve the problems that he faces, he engages in a series of kidnappings, partly to get out the frustrations and also get the possible answers to his problems (Galow, 15). Witten in a simple manner, the novel is easy to understand and is enjoyable. Among the themes that arise from the novel is how the protagonist is a victim of circumstances. Although he engages in a series of illegal activities, it is understandable that such activities were beyond his control; hence he was dictated by circumstances. This paper will give an analysis of how Thomas, as the protagonist in the novel, was a victim of circumstances.
It is clear that the kidnappings carried out by Thomas were to help him resolve the several questions that he had in his head which he had failed to solve for years. In one way or the other, all the victims he kidnapped was linked to the problems that he was facing (Eggers, 21). Through interrogating them, he would possibly get in a better position so as to understand the problems he was facing. In analyzing this theme, it is important to analyze each person he kidnapped and how they were linked to the problems he was facing. This way, it is easy to understand the how Thomas was a victim of circumstances.
The first person Thomas kidnapped was Kev Paciorek. Paciorek was a NASA astronaut whom he had known little about in college. In college, Paciorek’s dream was to fly on the Space Shuttle. This dream was however lost because the Shuttle program was shut, meaning he could never get the opportunity. Accordingly, Thomas was jealous of Paciorek from school. Thomas’s future was somehow blurred because he never received enough support from his mother, leave alone the teachers. In several occasions, the author makes the reader understand that the relationship between Thomas and his mother was flawed and had a lot to be forgotten (Eggers, 32). Thomas was ambitionless in school, hence ended up hating all the friends which were successful and ambitious. In essence, he failed to understand why he could not be compared to them, despite being in the same school. Tough the interrogation he carries out with Paciorek, we understand that he was not in a position to dictate his own fate. As a victim of circumstances, he decided to revenge against the cruel world so as to understand what haunted him.
Thomas’s problems also stemmed from the death of his friend, Don Bahn. Such a death haunted Thomas throughout his life as he could not comprehend why and how he lost his best friend in a cruel manner. Thomas seems to find no peace in his head when he remembers about his friend, and his intention is to do everything possible within his power to bring justice to the world. Although most of the tactics he uses are flawed, the reader gets to understand that Thomas had to do whatever he did in order to have a full understanding about what transpired. To this extent, his actions were fully understandable.
Thomas’ third kidnap is a former middle-school teacher (Eggers, 43). The reason that motivated Thomas to kidnap the teacher was the information he had that he teacher was notorious in molesting young students in the school during his time. Thomas has a unique feeling that the teacher could have molested him as well. He is also of the opinion that the teacher could have molested his friend. In his mind, Thomas is of the opinion that this is a strange act which could destroy the future of any victim. The reader gets the feeling that Tomas has the intention of torturing the teacher and avenging his evil deeds as a teacher. Apparently, the authorities took no action against the teacher despite the fact that he had engaged in evil activities in the society. According to Thomas, this was wrong. The authority had failed to bring justice to the victims, hence Thomas took the action of avenging the molestations (Eggers, 46). It is unclear whether Thomas would have kidnapped the teacher if he had not molested the students, including Thomas. His move is, therefore, dictated by his mission to avenge the ill-practices.
Thomas also kidnaps his mother. In doing so, he gives a number of accusations and the reasons why he blamed his mother for his own downfall. Through reading the novel, one gets the feeling that Tomas’ mother had failed as a parent to give Thomas a proper upbringing to see him become a better member in the society. Thomas’ move to kidnap her was meant to punish the mother for her failed roles. Te author gives the reader enough reasons to understand how the mother had failed in playing her roles. For instance, she is described to be a longtime addict and alcoholic. Because of this behavior, the mother had failed to protect Thomas from a number of circumstances that would have needed parental care. His mother had failed to protect him from the cruelty of the teacher (Eggers, 56). The mother’s boyfriends also meant that Thomas was not welcomed home as he deserved. Thomas is thoroughly justified that the problems he faces were engineered by his mother who failed to protect him sufficiently. The mother’s argument was that Thomas had always acted strange, making it difficult to understand the extent to which he could be assisted (Slager et al. 49). Matters would have been different if the mother had provided Thomas with adequate parental care. From this perspective, we get to understand how such events led Thomas to b in the situation he was in.
The move by Thomas to abduct a police officer is justifiable. Thomas needed to do this so that he could understand how the police systems worked. In essence, this abduction of the police officer was to give him a chance to discuss with the officer the procedures that led to the death of his friend, Don Bahn. As already argued above, the death of a friend is one of the things that haunted Thomas in his life. To find a solution to the problems he was facing, Thomas needed to understand the police perspective of the issue. He is also keen to understand the 21 Foot Rule (Eggers, 67). By avenging the death of friend, Thomas would be in a good situation to find a solution to the challenges that he was facing. To his shock, he realized that the officer had taken part in the death of Bahn. The officer was responsible as he was the one who shot him. At this point, the actions of Thomas are justifiable as he could not control himself, rather deciding to explore all avenues to understand what took place and the reason such things took place.
Thomas also abducts the director at the patient access who was in charge of the hospital where Don died (Kohlmoos, 65). Thomas blames the director for playing a role to cover up the real facts about Don’s death. According to Thomas, Don was shot seventeen times. Te officer, I her medical report, claimed that Don was shot three times. This would probably hinder justice from taking place and as such, Don would never find justice. It was therefore the role of Thomas to avenge the death of a friend. The last victim Thomas kidnapped was Sara (Eggers, 76). Also she never affected Thomas in any negative manner, Thomas was of the opinion that the two were destined to live together in the long-term.
The above abductions by Thomas are crucial in trying to understand how Thomas was a victim of circumstances. The death of a friend seems to have given him the motivation and justification to behave in the manner that he did. The society’s decision not to punish the wrongdoers is what motivated his actions. As such, Thomas was a victim of circumstances.
Works Cited
Eggers, Dave. Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?: A Novel. Print.
Galow, Timothy W. Understanding Dave Eggers. Print.
Kohlmoos, Lacey. Quicklet on Dave Eggers's Zeitoun Cliffnotes-like Summary, Analysis, and Review. Print.
Slager, Judit. Simulation in Dave Eggers's Memoir. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State U, 2008. Print.
