well I finished the book and I loved it as well. It is definitely one "for the books." ouch!

I was very sad for him at first because he was locked into his fears and didn't feel he could leave, and also that he felt tied to his responsibilities, but I think one of the main themes of the books was abuse AND how a child can be formed by it.

Am I way off? I felt his father was clearly mentally abusive and it set the tone for his life. He rejected thoughts of being able to leave or make a new/better life because of the way his father had treated him during his formulative years....Now this wasn't the ONLY reason he didn't move forward, but I felt it was a very large part of it.

Just some thoughts...