Stitches: Section II

Contrast

The contrast in this section of Stitches that stood out to me the most was David's parents' flamboyant spending in comparison to David's mother's "tidal wave" on page 122. Since David's father was promoted at the hospital, he deemed it worthy to buy a new car (or two?) and go on a shopping spree with David's mother. And despite the discovery of David's growth which will require surgical removal, his parents' whims are prioritized over his health needs. Even though David's father is a surgeon, his mother yells at him for a health problem over which he had no control, claiming that "doctors cost money and money is something that is in short supply in this house!" (see page 142-143)

?

One thing that struck me as odd in this section was David's parents' alternate personalities around their friends. His prior description of his parents suggests that they are silent, angry, and borderline antisocial, whereas when they meet their friends on the yacht their dialogue and the drawings seem to show that they are enjoying themselves quite a bit. Are his parents cruel and cold people to everyone, or do they merely choose to ignore their children?

Journal (Fate vs. Free Will)

The issue of fate versus free will is portrayed very differently in Stitches than it is in Oedipus. Rather than a man fighting against the prophesies of the gods, David is subject to his parents' lopsided standards of his own decisions. The contrast I mentioned previously between the parents' spending with the mother's shaming of David's growth suggests that his mother inherently expects him to have complete control over his financial toll on the family. (And though it is outside of the section, later in the book, David's father scolds him for having poor posture, suggesting that he will be a hunchback when he is old.)

These kinds of remarks and judgments on the behalf of David's parents describe for the reader the kind of familial hell that David has to deal with. His parents clearly do not care about him whatsoever, and they blame their own discontent on shortcomings that he has no say in.

So far in the novel, David has had very little choice with regards to the path of his life. He's been subjected to many X-rays and operations and tidal waves of anger without any hope of recourse. So at least in the context of this section, Stitches really takes the Oedipal perspective that a man's actions are ultimately futile against his predetermined fate.