Where Things Come Back
John Corey Whaley
Two Different Worlds
Cullen Witter is a 17 year old boy that lives in Lily, Arkansas along with his 15 year old brother, Gabriel and parents. When Gabriel goes missing one summer day, their family is left in pieces, trying to find answers about Gabriel's disappearance.
Benton Sage, 18, goes on a spiritual journey to Ethiopia to prove to his parents that he has "truly exerted his faith". After he gives up and requests to come home, Benton's family shuns him because of his failure to spread his knowledge of his faith. Even while away from his family at college, Benton couldn't live with himself knowing he had disappointed his family and he commits suicide. Benton's roommate, Cabot Searcy, finds his journal which leads him to The Book of Enoch, and the beginning of a quest that will consume him.
When these two stories collide, it creates a surprising ending that further proves the idea of hope.
Cullen Witter
Cabot Searcy
Characterization
The use of characterization in this story significantly advances the plot because of the intense emotions and thoughts the characters go through throughout there storyline. With Gabriel's disappearance, Cullen becomes immensely depressed and shows his vulnerability when talking about his brother missing from his life. "To lose a sibling is to lose the one person with whom one shares a lifelong bond that is meant to continue on into the future" Reading this really showed me how alone Cullen felt, he also mentioned, "as a seventeen-year-old whose brother was most likely dead, I was acting like a complete jerk for a good reason." Cullen was expressing his feelings but he had didn't know how to talk and that led him to act out on people who were trying to be supportive, when all he really needed to do talk to someone.