CAJ+-+Cheese+Paper

camear024 Ruby Group Nov. 27, 07

What if your life was falling apart before your eyes? Everything you based your life upon turned out to be a lie. Once you started to get the answers the keepers of these answers ceased to exist anymore. That is basically the story of Adam Farmer's hopeless existance in the phsychological thriller, I am the Cheese. Adam Farmer is shocked to find out that his family is part of the witness protection program, and his name isn't really Adam but Paul Delmonte. His parent's had been lying to him his whole life. Once he starts connecting with them they die in a tragic accident. The author, Robert Cormier, put many hidden messages within this text that that the reader is supposed to uncover and ponder over. It might seem like a confusing and strange book to the naked eye but if you look deep into this book then it is really a throught provoking and brilliant story.

Firstly, Robert Cormier included an important warning through his story, I am the Cheese. It was a message to readers about the importance of finding your identity and knowing yourself as a person. His warning to readers is just break out of your shell and find out who you are as a person. Don't let other people run your life. Be a confident person who is independent and knows their identity. At the beginning of the story Adam was a shy and not very confident teenager. He depended on other people like his girlfriend, Amy, to break through his shell and basically run his life. I think that in many ways he felt sorry for himself. He was sorry that he wasn't more outgoing and that he was distant with his parents. If Adam was a more independent and confident person before his hardships maybe he wouldn't have been so broken and confused after all that occured in his life. If he knew himself better than when he heard that his name was actually Paul and he wasn't who he thought he was he could have went "Thats okay, it doesn't matter to me. I am who I am. I am Adam Farmer." If you are sure of yourself and who you are as a person (your likes dislikes, your personality, etc.) then you won't have to depend on anybody else, and you will never come into question with yourself as a person.

The second large message in the story I am the Cheese was about telling the truth and doing what is right. Adam's Farmer found out secret information about Government Corruption. He knew that the right thing to do was to report this. He did the right thing even though it negatively affected his whole life. Sinec he reported the information and got sent to trial he had to be part of the witness protection program and put his life into somebody else's hands. Telling the truth actually caused the demise of Mrs. Farmer and himself. The story also has a hint of the well known phrase "good guys finish last." Just because you do a good deed doesn't always mean you are going to be positively rewarded for it. The reward should just be knowing in your heart that you did the right thing no matter what occurs as a result of your good deed. I am the Cheese is a prime example of this whole message.

Finally, the third message I found in I am the Cheese was an important message regarding trust. Robert Cormier wants the reader to understand that no matter who you are in life, who your parents are or whether you are wealthy or rich you have been lied to before in your life. There is no way of getting around lying whether the lies are big or just small white lies. Sometimes people have to lie to you for your own good. In Adam's case, his parent's lied to him about his identity for his own personal safety. They had his best interest at heart when they made their lies but in the end it really hurt Adam. I think that the true message is that you should take to heart things people say but always understand somewhere deep inside that you might be being lied to somewhere along. Even the people you trust can be lying to you. You should probably also try to understand what your lies do to people. Even though it would have been difficult Adam's parent's should not have hidden their secret until he was 14. They should have told him much, much sooner. They thought they were doing Adam a favor but they should have understand how Adam would react.

In conclusion, I am the Cheese is a book with many valuable messages or lessons that you can learn from the text. These messages include everything and anything. From, the importance of knowing yourself as a person, the truths about being a good person, and an important message or two about truthfulness. I think I am the Cheese in general was a refreshing book. It really made me think and it taught me many important lessons. Hopefully, I will take these lessons to heart and incorporate them into things I do.

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