Choices In Paul's Life

617 Words3 Pages
Choices Paul’s life is not entirely his own. Others have made many of the major decisions concerning his life. Choices have affected Paul all his life. Most of the major events in his life have been instigated by someone else’s choices. Out of love, his parents have made choices to not only protect Paul but to keep him shielded from decision-making knowledge of events, and subjects that they didn’t want him to be exposed to. While his parents may have thought their decisions were more positive then negative, they showed their lack of faith in Paul. They were shielding him from adult information and decisions. They were ultimately limiting his ability to grow-up. Mom made the first choice. She chose to fill out an IEP form for Paul,…show more content…
They chose to let Paul know the truth about his eyesight. This was an important choice because it was a choice to tell Paul the truth. It was to reverse one the first choices they have made together to hide information from Paul for his own good. By not initially telling Paul what happened to his eyes, it made Paul grow up hating himself. Boor shows this when he writes, “So you figured it would be better if I just hated myself” (265). The only reason his parents told him the truth is Paul confronted them. While they admitted that he had a right to know, they justified their reason for not telling him earlier. Paul may have understood that his parents’ love led to their over protection but he probably distrusted his parents and their ability to tell him the whole truth. Paul’s parents’ choices changed the direction of his life. While they meant well, they were shielding Paul from life and the real world. They also prevented Paul from growing up and may have led Paul to distrust his parents and other authority figures. By demanding his truth about his eyesight, Paul showed his desire for the truth and to grow up. Part of growing up is learning how to handle the truths and disappointments of life. Paul’s confrontation with his parents was a first step towards adulthood and sign of
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