I Know This Much Is True
I Know This Much Is True
Tyler Bauman
One crucial and important idea in humanity is the idea of forgiveness. The Book of 1 John in the Bible states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” From Biblical to modern times, forgiveness has been extremely important. However, the forgiveness of others is not the only type of forgiveness. Many times, people must overcome guilt or sadness to forgive themselves. This, along with too much moral responsibility for others, is the basic theme of Wally Lamb’s novel I Know This Much Is True. When Dominick Birdsey and his schizophrenic twin Thomas were in the public library, Thomas cut off his hand as a sacrifice. Thomas, who was very active but paranoid about politics, said he did it to draw attention to America’s unnecessary war in the Middle East. However, Dominick felt that the whole situation was his fault. It was myself I held responsible—for having tunes out all that babble about Islam and Armageddon, for not having called the doctors and bugged them about his medication…That Sunday at Friendly’s, he’d ordered only a glass of water. “I’m fasting,” he’s said, and I’d purposely asked nothing, ignored those dirty hands of his. (4)
Even though Dominick couldn’t have done anything directly to prevent Thomas’ “sacrifice,” he still held himself responsible. Not only that, but Dominick didn’t forgive himself for a very long time. This shows Dominick’s need and inability to forgive himself in a situation that was out of his control. After Thomas and Dominick’s mother died, things weren’t going too well for either brother. Dominick, though perfectly sane, felt guilty for not being mentally ill like his brother. When you’re the sane brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your hands—the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at
Tyler Bauman
One crucial and important idea in humanity is the idea of forgiveness. The Book of 1 John in the Bible states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” From Biblical to modern times, forgiveness has been extremely important. However, the forgiveness of others is not the only type of forgiveness. Many times, people must overcome guilt or sadness to forgive themselves. This, along with too much moral responsibility for others, is the basic theme of Wally Lamb’s novel I Know This Much Is True. When Dominick Birdsey and his schizophrenic twin Thomas were in the public library, Thomas cut off his hand as a sacrifice. Thomas, who was very active but paranoid about politics, said he did it to draw attention to America’s unnecessary war in the Middle East. However, Dominick felt that the whole situation was his fault. It was myself I held responsible—for having tunes out all that babble about Islam and Armageddon, for not having called the doctors and bugged them about his medication…That Sunday at Friendly’s, he’d ordered only a glass of water. “I’m fasting,” he’s said, and I’d purposely asked nothing, ignored those dirty hands of his. (4)
Even though Dominick couldn’t have done anything directly to prevent Thomas’ “sacrifice,” he still held himself responsible. Not only that, but Dominick didn’t forgive himself for a very long time. This shows Dominick’s need and inability to forgive himself in a situation that was out of his control. After Thomas and Dominick’s mother died, things weren’t going too well for either brother. Dominick, though perfectly sane, felt guilty for not being mentally ill like his brother. When you’re the sane brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your hands—the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at