Finding David Watson Essay

The work of Brad Watson, finding David is an intriguing book with themes and questions running through it. The main plot of the book is David having to find who he is after moving to a new town. Which brings us to a questions those who have not read the book will ask, in what ways did David find himself throughout the novel. That is exactly what shall be explored and answered in this report.

David finds himself in many ways a main way being through love for family, especially after everything they have been through together. David's lives with his his dad and sister Jessica. His mother is in hospital with depression and his other sister JJ died at birth. His family is a bit crazy but they all love each other. He show his love for his dad when

he says "I, um, I really respect my dad." It may not seem like much but it was. On the same page he said "I just want to say something about my mum. Even though she's sick, I'm really proud of her." On page 6 David worries about his sister in the following event: "You OK?" he asked softly, observing that her hands were trembling and her face was pale. David truely loves his family cares for them so much. He doesn't care about the accident but does find it hard to express his love. David did have troubles in finding himself when he moved to a new town but with the love of his family he is able to make it through.

David had no friends at his new school which resulted in him being lost, and to help find himself he needed some new, close friends to stick with.

That is exactly what he got. Towards the start of the book David met Sai and James. They started of at a rough start but became close. On page 171 James' mum commented "you boys act like you've been friends for years." On page 14 Sai says "You should come out with us..." This is where David's friendship with Sai began. The boys get into trouble together a bit but they help each other out. Along the way David meets Tony and becomes friends with him to. It was James who brought him to riskMEN and he enjoyed it. David's friends or even David himself may not have noticed it, but they were a giant help in David finding himself and they pointed each other in the correct

direction.

David couldn't just find himself from the help of others, he had to do it himself to, through emotions. David feels many emotions. He feels lonely, sad, betrayed, hated, angry, put down. Just like on page 2 when Kimberly and Anthony are teasing him about his house, he feels put down, sad and hated. Or on page 78 after he read his sisters diary he feels sad and lonely.But like on page 14 when he makes friends he feels loved, befriended, slightly worshiped, happy even calm. David has many emotions throughout the book, some positive some not so much. His emotions often flip and become opposites of how they started, therefore his emotions are such an important part of finding himself.

David struggles in a new town where he knew nobody and a way of releasing it all was by just doing what he loves, and that's what he did.

David had two major loves. They where surfing and bike riding. These activities where like and escape for him. On page 49 at 6:37 and David considered going for a surf before he remembered he no longer lived walking distance from the beach. This shows David loved to surf in his old town and go for early morning surfs. He them decided to go for a hour long bike ride. On page 81 he was showing of his bike to his friends when they went out for a bike ride together. David clearly loved these things and had so for a while since his bike and surf boards where the best things he had even owned. He enjoyed surfing before and after the accident, it was like his escape and now he enjoys it with

friends.

As now it is clearly shown David finds himself in many ways. He does so through family, friends, emotions, surfing and even bike riding. All these things add up to who David is, and that is what David needed to do. His family helped by loving him, friends by laughing with him, emotions by guiding him, and surfing and bike riding by giving him something to do, alone or with others. Finding David is an excellent book that shows the life of a teenager and the importance of knowing who you are.