IR project on Beautiful Boy
By: Delaney Reider
Dialogue
“I didn't cause it. I can't control it. I can't cure it.”
“That's when it struck me that I can't take my life as long as I can still laugh.”
“An alcoholic will steal your wallet and lie to you. A drug addict will steal your wallet and then help you look for it.”
“I'm not sure if I know any 'functional' families, if functional means a family without difficult times and members who don't have a full range of problems.”
“How can both Nics, the loving and considerate and generous one, and the self-obsessed and self-destructive one, be the same person?”
Theme
The theme in my book is to never give up. Nic was an addict, he went to rehab, relapsed, went to more rehab, relapsed again, went clean for 2 years then started using again. After a while Nic finally gets his mind off of drugs and finds something he really likes to do, biking, He goes to a Rehab and his roommate has been clean for 15 years. and they go biking all the time together. Nic finally stays clean.
Characterization
Nic was a sweet, intelligent and outgoing child. When he grows up he becomes a lying, cheating, stealing meth addict.
Summary
The story begins in Berkeley, California in spring 1982. Nic, his mom, dad, sister,and brother live in a white washed clapboard bungalow built in the 1920's. The main character is Nic. Throughout the book Nic transforms from a sweet, intelligent and outgoing child into a lying, cheating, stealing meth addict. The main conflict is internal because Nic gets pressured to do drugs by his group of "friends". The rising action begins when Nic's dad finds drugs in Nic's bag when Nic and his friend are outside playing football. The climax happens when Nic's dad find out Nic had started taking a stronger drug, methamphetamine and Nic disappears on the streets of California and steals money from his family when they aren't home. Nic is also brought to rehab multiple times but soon relapses after. The longest he has gone without relapsing was 2 years. Nic's dad gets really sick and has to go to the hospital. While he is in the hospital Nic goes to a party and starts using again with his girlfriend Z.
{Berkeley California picture credit: www.rentawreck.com}