Character Analysis: Culle Cullen's Search For Meaning
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Our seventeen-year-old narrator, Cullen Witter, lives his life within a small town in Arkansas. Cullen’s attitude consists of sarcasm and pessimism. The text reads, “Being seventeen and bored in a small town, I like to pretend sometimes that I’m a pessimist. This is the way it is and nothing can sway me from that. Life sucks most of the time. Everything is bullshit. High school sucks. You go to school, work for fifty years, then you die” (1.13). In other words, Cullen feels as if it would be better off to see the world in such a negative way so in the future, you would not get hurt. His brother, Gabriel Witter, is the complete opposite. Gabriel is completely content with his life as he sits at home, reading with his positive attitude. Unfortunately,…show more content… Although this search for meaning may seem as an unhealthy aspect in his life because it constantly leads to disappointment, it also leads to character development. Cullen tells the story in the future, therefore providing us with his reflections to the decisions he’s made. Hence the resolution Cullen provides the reader, “the meaning of this was not to save you, but to warn you instead” (227). In other words, Cullen is letting go of everything that prevented him from growing and everything that the Lazarus bird symbolized. Cullen was able to accept the imperfections of life and realize that life wasn’t meant to be perfect. Gabriel in a way was a perfect way to allow Cullen to grow into a better person. If Gabriel would’ve never went missing, Cullen would’ve never been exposed to the scenarios that made him get outside of his own world and step into the real world. With Gabriel missing, Cullen had no one to confide in, he had no one to constantly protect so he had to find something else to do. It is sad to say that a seventeen year olds comfort zone is located within his younger