Death Of His Best Friend example essay topic
It deals with coping with the loss of a loved one and a good friend, battle with a psychiatrist. The age group of kids in story was teenagers. It deals with alcohol, mental illness, internal struggle and realization. The main character was a male his status was a student. His sense of humor was mostly serious.
He had average intelligence and he was very athletic. The main adversary was a male teen student he is present throughout most of the book. This character is sensitive to other peoples feelings. The setting is the United States / Southeast.
The style of the book was a lot of play on words, a lot of flashback and forwards and it was written like journals, diaries, or letters might be written. Robbie, Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. go out drinking after a basketball game. Andy is driving and careens into a wall. All but Robbie escape because his feet are lodged in the windshield. The car bursts into flames and Robbie is burned to death. Andy is trying to deal with the death of his best friend.
He feels he has caused his friend to die. Everyone affected by the accident deals with it in a different way. The whole book focuses on how Andy deals with the tragedy. Tears Of a Tiger was about Robbie, Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. had just won an important basketball game.
They decided to get together and go celebrate their victory. They had started drinking, all except for B.J. who had never drunk in his life. They heard honking, but just laughed because of the alcohol. All of a sudden, a wall is in front of them and before they know it, they hit it.
Three of the guys get out, but Robert Washington, Andy's best friend and captain of the Hazelwood Basketball Team is pinned inside of the car. Two guys rush over to help Robert out, but as soon as they get on the hood, they are thrown off after a loud bang. The gas tank explodes with Robert pinned inside and he burns to death. Now, months later, Andy can't stop blaming himself.
As he turns away from family, friends, and even his girlfriend, he finds he is losing the most precious thing of all- his ability to face the future. When he tries to go to sleep, Robert comes into his dreams and tells him it is all his fault, but he forgives him for everything. One night Andy starts thinking about suicide and he can't get hold of his psychologist. The death of Rob Washington, captain of the Hazelwood High basketball team and fun-loving friend to all, affects the entire school. But perhaps the person most profoundly impacted is Andy, who cannot come to terms with his friend's death and his role in it. Tormented by feelings of guilt and sorrow, Andy withdraws from everyone who cares for him: family, friends, teachers, his girlfriend.
Hiding his pain behind a mask of laughing antics, he finds himself unable to reconcile the past, cope with the present, or envision a future.