Why Is Leonard Peacock Important In The Book Forgive Me

Was it the Nazi handgun beside the bowl of cereal, the “gift” of chopped up hair or the almost perverted obsession with his Holocaust teacher's arms that make Leonard Peacock immediately fascinating? His narration is frantic, jumping back and forth, skipping over details as though you already know them. However, with Leonard being the narrator, you are able to see everything from his point of view exclusively, making you question how other people perceived him. Leonard will suddenly break from the present time and skip back months or years, allowing the reader to have some of their questions answered, even if they weren't sure they were being asked in the first place. Footnotes and “Letters from the Future” are more ways that allow you to gain insight and information about Leonard's life. Overall, the unique way Matthew Quick has written Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is heartbreaking and brutally honest.
At no point in this book is there any kind of narration except first-person, allowing you to see Leonard’s sarcastic, brash, hypocritical, sometimes downright sexist, and uncensored view of the world at all times. This point of view, ironically, makes it possible to see how important life is to Leonard. To him, life is confusing because no adult that he has ever followed on the train appeared happy (45), yet he cares about the lives of the recipients of his gifts enough that he tries to make his suicide more bearable for them (5). Leonard, however, doesn't tell you why these particular people mean so much to him until later in the