Running with Scissors (p.275-302)

Summary

Augusten has really changed his life since his mother had her last mental breakdown. He told us about one one his childhood Christmas when his mother had her "first" phyco breakdown. She was decorating the house and making it look festive. She got the biggest Christmas tree she could find and the Burroughs house was ready for Christmas. But unfortunately Dierdre was the only one who thought so. Her husband at the time, Norman, who was an alcoholic, didn't care so much and when he got her mad she went crazy and took down the tree. But aside from all of that Augusten and Natalie have taken their adventures to new heights. Since Natalie is making some money they decided to go on a whale watch cruise in Cape Cod. But it wasn't long until Augusten got under Natalie's influence again and they messed up the hotel room and ran just because of some missing earrings. Then Augusten and Natalie started doing something meaningful with their life. They went to college and shared an apartment outside of the campus. After a while, Dierdre opened her eyes and started accusing Dr. Finch of medicating her and manipulating her with drugs. Augusten doesn't know whether to believe his mother or the Finches, who are denying it. He saw that his friendship with Natalie will never be the same, so he left, found himself a job and a new apartment, and dreamt about how his new life would be in New York City. He made it, he survived some of his most complicated, lonely, years and now it's time for a new beginning.

Quote

"Yeah," I said, "Were running alright. Running with scissors" (Burroughs 290).

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Augusten has always been on the run from his life. He has always been trying to find something more, something worth living for. When he told Natalie that they was "running with scissors" he meant that they was running dangerously towards something and getting hurt through the process. I'm sure that every kid has heard it once from a parent or a teacher "don't run with scissors", it had always been a safety rule that we all know. Augusten know's that running with scissors is not safe and that's exactly why he said it. His life has never been safe, it has never been certain. He has never had a rule in his life to follow, he never thought twice about what he was doing and what he wanted to do. He was running towards his future and it wasn't safe, he wasn't safely walking. He was Running with Scissors.

Running with Scissors (p.225-275)

Summary

Nothing has picked up for Auguesten. In between his little experiements with Natalie, his days are all the same. The last time he did something crazy with her was by taking everything that was old in the house, an old chair, blender, washing machine, and everything in between to the backyard. It was suppose to be a yard sale but instead they made it thier own outdoor camping site. What was really suprising was that they are as free as can be, the Finches live each day how it comes and they don't let nothing ruin their day. But for Augusten it's all a different story. He has to deal with his clingy boyfriend, his physcotic mother and the strange ways of the Finches. Throughout his summer it seemed like his mother was not going to have another episode, or atleast that's what she said and he believed it untill spring came and everything happened again. It was the same old scene over and over again, but he predicted it. The last time she had one the Doctor took her to a motel and everyone along and they all took turns looking watching her. When she was "better", they brought her home, at least that's what she made everyone believe. While they were at the motel, Niel had also went and was trying to get Augusten in the mood to go over their relationship but he didn't want to hear about which wasn't a good idea cause Niel eventually ran away and nobody ever heard from him again. Augusten felt like he lost something valuable to him and like he was trap inside a house full with freedom. In order for him to feel "free" he needed to get a boyfriend and that's what he tried to do except the guy turned out to be straight which made him look dump and disperate. So, now, all he has is a phyco mother and a strange family which he is a part of.

Quote

"The problem with not having anybody to tell you what to do, I understood, is that there was nobody to tell you what not to do" (Burroughs 264).

Reaction

With the quote above we can clearly understand where Augusten is coming from. If your not disciplined your wild and you do what ever you want to do not knowing the consequences. Everyone needs that authority to tell them what's right and what's wrong because with out that you would have done it all and you wouldn't feel the thrill of doing something new. Augusten needed that figure that would keep him from making unecessary mistakes, which he didn't have.

Running with Scissors (p.139-225)

Summary

It seems like every time I finish writing a summary I feel like Augusten has done it all, then as soon as I turn a page a read something else that makes my jaw drop. Augusten and Natalie, Dr. Finches daughter and Augusten's accomplice, gets themselves projects everyday. Just one look at the ceiling and they started renovating the whole kitchen ceiling and because the house was so old the ceiling seemed to fall down on it's own. As soon as they finish they go back to their routine, sitting down, smoking, and laughing at and with each other. Augusten's love life has been of balance lately. He's starting to question how he feels about Niel, and he starts to question Niels motives with the relationship, especially when it comes to their sexual relationship. Even though Niel tells him everyday how he feels about him and that he would die if they ever separated, Augusten rolls his eyes and responds Niel with a simple "I know" or an "Thank you". To him, it has all become so cliche. To top it all off the Finch house, which has now became a full time home for him, has gotten crazier. The doctor now relies on what comes out of his rectum to find out what his financial status is going to be like. Augusten's mother, Deirdre, has a new girlfriend who was temporarily occupying his old room before she made her way into the master bedroom. When it finally seems like his life would became the same routine over and over again, Augusten goes and fills out nine applications for himself in the hopes that one of those nine jobs would give him the chance he needed to finally get his life on track.

Quote

"I did want Hamburger Helper. And if I knew where to find a mother that could make it, I would have been there in a heartbeat" (Burroughs 206).

Reaction

Augusten has never really had a mother figure in his life, or at least he didn't have the perfect T.V mom you would see in movies and shows. With the quote above I feel like his was trying to be funny but in a way he was not really asking for a plate of Hamburger Helper. When people think about Hamburger Helper they think a nice warm family sitting all together at a table eating a hot meal together sharing stories about how their days went. He never really experienced that and I feel like that's a very essential part in a child's life when their growing up. What he was asking for was a mother who will be there for him, someone who he can go to and spill out all his problems and she will hold back on whatever is bothering her because at that moment it's all about her baby, all about her son. That's what he was longing for and that's what his mother couldn't provide him with.

Running with Scissors (pg.69-138)

Summary

Augusten has changed dramatically since we last seen him. He's not that little innocent boy who always had to be neat and carefull about everything he does. Augusten has been through a life changing experience and he's only 13 years old. He found that he's sexaully attracted to men and espicially attracted to Dr. Finch's adopted son Niel Bookman. In a disturbing night Bookman raughly showed Augusten what he was asking for and he, along with a few headaches and resentment, excepted the challenge. Augusten came to find out that he wasn't the only one having to find his sexuality. His mother also shared this journey with him, one he didn't know about and was surprised to find out. The way he found out only added to the tension that he already had with his mother. He had started to swear and disrespect his mother in a way that no one else would. With his mother paying more attention to her poem and life, she began to push Augusten away only causing him to resent her more and more. Being 13 he had created a attitude and never wanted to go to school but he and Dr. Finch had a plan for him. Augusten would have to pretend that he was suicidal to skip a view months of school, but as soon as he get's in the hospital he began missing his outside life, espicially his current "boyfriend" Niel.

Quote

"You are an adult," she said "You're thirteen years old. You've got a mind and a will of your own. And I have my own needs right now" (Burroughs 120).

Reaction

You kind of wonder how Augusten feels when his mother said this, but in a way he acts like an adult and makes himself seem like hes older then he is. In another way, Augusten had no choice but to take care of himself and grow up faster then the regular kid. Being traumatized by his childhood and being dropped off at somebody's house to life changed him and this quote proves that his mother isn't really involved in his life. People always say that a mother should always put her needs behind her child's and the fact that she said she had her own need and doesn't want to deal with her son show's her true colors. It would be interesting to see how his mother ends up and if she even ends up in his life or not.

Running with Scissors (pg. 1-69)

Summary

Throughout the first few page we are introduced to Augusten, his mother named Deirdre, his father named Norman, his mother's psychiatrist Dr. Finch, and the Finch family. Augusten is introduced as your ab-normal type of boy. Everything has to be perfect in his eyes or he wont be happy. He goes through a series of trauma while he's living in the woods and his mother and father was still together. The mother loved to write poems and was hoping that one day one of her poems would be published in The New Yorker. His father, a professor with knee pain, is an alcoholic who dislikes his wife. Augusten has to put up with the fights and the pain, though he seems not to mind it's effecting him big time. As a result of his parents' divorce, Augusten had to stay with Dr. Finch because his mother was unstaple at the time and his father was trying to kill them. Augusten, the neat freak, has to stay in the messy house with roaches in the kitchen, but a messy house is going to be the least of his problems as he starts to spend more and more time with the Finche's.

Quote

"My umbilical cord is still attached and she's pulling at it" (Burroughs 2).

Reaction

So far the memoir has already taken me in a rollercoaster not knowing what spin I'm going to take next. It almost feels like I can reach out to little Augusten and give him a hug that he's been needing, a hug the not even his mother can give me. As I read I see a little boy not knowing what his purpose in the world is. The traumatizing fights that he witnessed only added to his loneliness because he was caught in the middle of it, he was the one who had to walk over to his father and make sure that he was still breathing. Augusten seems like a boy who was born in the wrong family. He was literally handed off to another family who he had nothing in common with and he felt like he was somewhere he didn't belong. Augusten has already gone through alot of changes in his life. His parents got divorced, his moved to a new home, and he goes to a new school (which he never attends). I believe that as the story goes on Augusten will find who he really is and make a mark in the the life of the people who knew him.