The Year We Disappeared by Cylin Busby Analysis

One key take away from reading The Year We Disappeared is that violence causes a ripple effect and it could lead to something that can’t be undone.  For example John was minding his business and he was involved in a drive by shooting. His upper body was thrown into the passenger seat of his cop car. The bullet that hit John was a buck shot type bullet that when shot throws about ½ inch pellets that spread out to hit the target. In this case they hit John in the jaw and it took out some of his teeth and almost half of his tongue. It made it hard for his kids to see him like that and it was also hard for him to recover. Violence isn't the way to solve problems. It causes more problems. There have been many cases of violence and for what? To make you feel like the bigger person? An alarming amount of people get away with cases like these. 

Another thing I can take away from this book is that trauma affects people differently. When Cylin Busby said “Shawn turned and darted from the room” (100) i realized he wasn't okay with seeing his dad in the bed.  Another example of someone taking trauma is when Cylin Busby thought “ I was trying really hard to believe that this person in the bed was him, but I couldn't” (99). They are 2 of the 3 kids John has. They didn't like seeing their dad in the shape he was. Other people have the same reaction to things such as seeing a loved one on a hospital bed or even simply passing a car crash scene. Some people take trauma better than others, but the most popular way to get other something traumatic is going to therapy.