Airhead101's+I+Am+The+Cheese+Paper

Airhead101 December 3, 2007 Ruby

//I Am the Cheese//
Imagine. Riding around on your bike, with only your stuffed animal as the only thing you have in the basket on your bike, knowing that both your parents are gone and you don't even know who you really are. Living with a mental illness, and not even knowing. Imagine yourself, only living by a single policy that protected you from termination. Having two birth certificates, not knowing which could be which, and you don't even know. How would you live your life? Adam Farmer, though born as Paul DelMonte doesn't remember his past though only with his flashbacks that he gets. Those flashbacks explain what happened in his life. Out of those flashbacks and the rest of the book, there are so many events that lots of people can make connections to yourself, another type of media, and the rest of the world. Though, is the author trying to send some sort of message, whether to entertain, to persuade, or even to warn. There is both trust and betrayal. Though, how can these things all relate to us?

As Adam, really born as Paul continues through his sessions and his constant flashbacks, he meets people along the way that say that the world is dangerous and he needs to watch himself, others trying to terminate him. What does the author want us to think, is the book about trust or betrayal. There was the old man, telling Adam to watch himself. Whether Adam did trust him or not, the old man was right. After reading the book I believe that the message is be careful in whom you trust. Adam wants to trust Brint (the terminator) though; he is one of the people trying to terminate him, though Adam doesn't know. Adam thought that he could trust Brint though, it He shouldn't even trust the "Wise Guys" that he met at the diner. One threw popcorn at him and then he go into a fight with another one. They are one of the betrayal people. As for me, I have the same things happen to me in the past. I thought I could trust someone, but they ended up hurting me more than I already was. I was great friends with this person and we did lots of things together, until the day that I trusted her with a secret and it ended up going around and I was ready to hide under a rock. You really must be careful who you trust and that is what the author tries to portray.

As to the message, there is always a purpose. There must have been a reason that Cormier, the author wrote this book. There are different emotions that can portray in this book. This book could be to entertain, persuade, and warn. There are different events that can help determine the purpose of the story. The "Wise Guys" after they caught up to Adam when he was on his bike is probably to warn and be careful who you run into. There are some interesting analogies that were put in the book to entertain the reader, such as scary weird about the alleged "fat man in the cage". Also, the book tries to persuade for you to continue to read to book. In my personal opinion, I did not find the book persuading at all and though, it was entertaining and it warn me a little bit. This book is not very interesting though, it does inform you about being careful and trusting people that don't try to pick fights with you (the "Wise Guys"). It is entertaining at points, though not very much. It is more of an informative book. If it was a more straight forward book and not as confusing as it is now, I believe it would be more persuading.

Continuing on with the book I thought that the book was just a normal fiction book that did not make any sense. There were no strong points that could really relate to the rest of the world. Strong points would be things such as viruses that have no cures, or war, and debates around the world. The only point that I thought was strong and that everyone could relate is that everyone has been lied to at least once in their lives. In the beginning of the book, Adam was lied about "half" of his life. He was born as Paul DelMonte and then he finds two birth certificates in an envelope, one which states that he is Adam Farmer and the other states that he is Paul DelMonte. His father eventually tells him that his family is in a witness re-identification program. He was lied to until the point when he snooped around and found the certificates. I have been lied to and lots of people can relate to what I will say. When everyone is little, your parents tell you that Santa is real and all the movies with Santa coming down the chimney and eating the cookies and you put a wish list under the tree and he gives you what you ask for. Many people know that Santa Claus is not real when they get older and their parents tell them. So there is one lie someone has told you. (Sorry for the people who still thought Santa Claus was real).

Overall, I taught that the book was very confusing and it was not a convincing book. The confusing events lead me into a swirl of not understanding the book entirely. Again, as I stated that if the book had been more straight forward I probably would have enjoyed the book a little more. It was hard to understand and though I understood the context I would not like to read this book again. I only recommend this book for advanced reader who like very challenging books that are truly confusing.