Analysis Of Running With Scissors

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs is about Burroughs childhood from ages 12 to 17. During this time he does to live with his mother’s psychiatrist, Dr. Finch, and his family. Burroughs experiences and witnesses heavy instability along with excessive freedom for a person his age. This leads to things such as abuse and lack of good judgment skills. Even though a common theme in the memoir is Burroughs unlimited freedom, it is still slightly debated on if the story told is fact or fiction, a lie in which could still be related to limitless independence.

Dr. Finch and his family believed that a child became an adult at the age of 13. After that point, no adult could tell that child what to do. All of the children can choose to be whatever

they decided and act whatever way they decided. They were their own individuals and could make their own choices. Dr. Finch’s view on this is "...if a young person sets his or her mind to something, there's really nothing anybody can do to stop them (Burroughs).” So, Dr. Finch lets his children do what they set their mind to, and does not stop them.
A prime example of this mindset is the case of Augusten and Natalie, one of Dr.

Finch’s daughters that is the same age as Augusten. Their freedom included dating whomever they chose, regardless of age, and the choice of their own guardians. Augusten began a relationship with Neil Bookman, the "adopted" son of Dr. Finch. Bookman is 33 at the start of their relationship and the first gay man Augusten met. Their relationship abruptly turns sexual, Burroughs explicitly describing one of their encounters in detail at the beginning of a chapter. Augusten is also described to heavily disliking penetrative sex. When brought to Dr. Finch’s attention, he states that he does not find it “wrong” to be with an older person. The only issue he has is that Augusten chose Bookman, who has “a lot of problems that run very, very deep.” He still does not forbid their relationship despite knowing this. Eventually, it is discovered that Natalie had chosen an older patient of her fathers who was wealthy as a guardian. This guardian was Natalie's abusive boyfriend. Despite his daughter getting constantly beaten by her pedophile boyfriend/guardian, Dr. Finch doesn't rethink his position on the onset of adulthood and does nothing to

intervene.
Another example of Augusten's limitless freedom is his faked suicide attempt in order to leave school for an indefinite period to be under Dr.

Finch's "care." There is no parental supervision or teachings taught by the Finch parents to their children or Augusten on their paths of their teenage years, just choices. Augusten's absolute independence makes him apathetic. He even wanted to quit school because he was tired of going. He was not 16 yet so he could not quit school on his own. With the help of Dr. Finch and his mother, Augusten makes an attempt at suicide to be exempted from school until he lawfully can decide on not attending. No one cautioned him that this decision might not be a sensible one for his future. This because Dr. Finch gives Augusten and his children complete freedom to do as they

please.
Yet another example of a regular day with all the freedom they could want for Natalie and Augusten, is when they break down the kitchen ceiling to make it more spacious. They decided that putting a hole in the ceiling would be a good idea. They put in their own skylight with a seven-and-a-half inch gap. This is the freedom they get to do anything at all and no one stops them. No adult comes and tells them to stop destroying the home they are living in. No adult tells them that they could have gotten hurt by falling ceiling pieces or electrical wires. They were left to their own devices. This was not a healthy upbringing for undeveloped teenagers.
At first, the idea of having unlimited freedom was hallucinogenic to Augusten. As he grows older, however, Augusten wants a parent to tell him what to do. Augusten remarks, "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).” He wanted someone, anyone, to be concerned about where he was and what he was doing. He was basically discarded by both of his parents. The only people that took him in did not deliver him the structure and help that he needed as a developing youth.