The Power of Love

Through all his rebellion and distain for society, try as he does, there is no way of denying that Lewis (like most people of the world) has fallen heavily to the powers of love. In fact, it can easily be said that love is the one factor that motivates Lewis beyond all other aspects life. As readers, we can come to such a conclusion by looking back at several different character interactions between Lewis and those that surround him.

The first interaction of love occurs, most obviously, between Lewis and his mother. While Lewis recounts the tale of his mother’s act of candy bar theft, the admiration and affection that Lewis feels are irrefutable. Lewis is not angered by the theft, but rather in awe of it. Whereas most kids would have resented and begrudged such behavior, Lewis on the other hand makes it his new goal in life to become a great sorcerer as his mother once was. Throughout the novel Lewis continuously jumps back to recollections of his mother. Lewis longs for the unconditional love that was once showered upon him in his youth.

The love that Lewis felt for his mother appears even more prominent an aspect of Lewis’s life when one looks back at the other interactions depicted in the novel that deal with the subject of love. Take for example Lewis’s first talk with Gary’s mother. While Gary’s mother believes that Gary is nothing more than scum beneath her feet because of all the mess he has put her and her husband through, Lewis is quite candid in challenging that thought. Gary’s mother claims that Gary ruined her life. In response, Lewis states that Gary “ruined his, too.” Gary is Clara’s son and, in Lewis’s opinion, familial love is one that should never be challenged. Rejecting one’s own son is “against nature.” For the first time in the novel Lewis defends someone other than himself, throwing blame on Clara for Gary’s troubled past. Lewis is not only defending familial love for Gary’s sake, but also for his own. Mother-son love is all that Lewis has ever found respite in, and by challenging such love one also begins to challenge the very essence of Lewis’s recollection of his late mother and thus, a big portion of his very existence.

Another instance when love becomes a point of reality for Lewis occurs when Lewis talks to Jared’s dad regarding what arrangements will be made now that Jared has been found to have a serious drug problem. Jared’s father is very pointed with Lewis. Jared’s father has set his mind on sending his son away to prison so that he will not continue to be “the pampered brat he is now.” When Lewis attempts to justify this statement by labeling it “tough love,” Jared’s dad immediately shoots the idea down. “There’s no love in it anymore,” he states, and the conversation is taken no further. Lewis, for once, makes no comment at all regarding the subject. He expresses no opinions or pessimistic impressions. Once again, coming nearer to the reality of lost parent love, Lewis has no words and chooses not to accept what he is told.

In conclusion, one might point out that the book even ends with a statement of love. After Gary has insulted Lewis’s mother, Lewis whacks Gary on the head. When questioned about the act Lewis responds that, “that would be love,” underhandedly implying that love is something that Gary couldn’t possibly understand, and thus ending the book. Throughout the novel, Lewis’s love for his mother appears to be a lone constant in a world of perpetual change. When all else has failed Lewis and left him is desolation, his ultimate love for his mother and his remembrance of her love for him remains. Above all else, there is love, and there has always been love. That is one thing that Lewis has not failed in, one thing that cannot be undone.