A Million Little Pieces; Post Four

How does going through these conflicts help the characters to learn more about themselves?

Throughout the memoir, A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, many learning opportunities are presented to James. Because James has been drinking since he was seven and doing drugs since he was twelve, there are many things he is able to learn about himself. One major aspect of James' life he learned about was that he doesn't want to be who he is. "I don't know what happened or how I ever ended up like this, but I did..." (131). James so badly wants to get better. Coming into the facility, he doesn't realize what he's getting into. After James is going through treatment, he figures out that it's much more difficult then he thought, "Everything's fixable. That's easy to say, much harder to do" (131). James gets easily dicouraged and makes himself believe things aren't fixable. He knows he has many problems that need work but he's unsure of how to go about re-creating his life. "I don't know if they're fixable. I don't know if I'm fixable" (131). Really anything is possible, James just needs to believe in himself. The reader and James learn that he doesn't have the faith and courage to get help.