The Blue Helmet Summary

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The Blue Helmet by William Bell One night, a young adult named Lee is arrested breaking into an auto parts store for a local gang. Out of choices made by a police officer and his father, Lee is sent to live with his Aunt Reena in New Toronto. Reena runs Reena's Unique Café, and Lee works there, helping out and running a delivery service for Reena. Lee meets all kinds of people, including the self-proclaimed Queen of Sweden and Bruce Cutter, a stay-in, insanely intelligent, wealthy and ridiculously paranoid individual who's fine as long as he remembers to take his medication. Lee and Bruce soon become good friends after a few deliveries. Eventually, after Cutter commits suicide and leaves everything he owns in Lee’s name, Lee finds about…show more content…
He sees the world in very dark and angry terms, his terms. Mainly because of his mother’s death from cancer when he was young and because of that and all the change it had brought on in his life, Lee is not willing to change or to listen to anyone. His character morphs and matures throughout the book, but the changes are very subtle. The reader mainly notices the changes when Lee does something that he would not have done before he moved, just like his volunteering to help someone or figuring out the consequences of his actions. The Blue Helmet reminds the reader that all actions have consequences, and that you must take responsibility for your actions and the final consequences. This is brought home time and time again as Lee sees the consequences of his actions, first without accepting them, and then starting to take the responsibility. William Bell draws parallels between actions in war, like what Bruce experiences in Croatia, and actions at home, such as what Lee experiences. The setting does not matter; you always have the same two choices – the green helmet or the blue helmet. The Blue Helmet is also the story of Lee's family, especially the relationship between Lee and his father. Their relationship is in terrible shape, and neither one tries to understand the other. Lee has to grow and accept the reasons why his father works two jobs, and he has to reach out to make the reconciliation and re-create

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