Summary Of Naked By David Sedaris

Everyone should know the cliché statement that goes like, “life is not always as it seems”. There is always something hiding. Many people do find this secret the hard way. Somewhere in life, there will always be that one moment an individual will remember, but not necessarily cherish forever. In Naked by David Sedaris, Sedaris lived through many traumatic experiences in such a short time span. One moment that seemed to last forever was growing up with his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and his Tourette syndrome. Although he grew up with rough patches, he claims that no matter how horrible an experience may be, just move on in life. It does not matter how atrocious or how wondrous it may be, moving on to the next chapter will bring a new beginning.

Sedaris overcame many obstacles

throughout his life.

One barrier that blocked him away was his so called “diseases”. As a youngster, he thought that all of this was normal and everyone did them once in a while, “A person had to do these things because nothing was more worse than the anguish of not doing them” (Sedaris 9). This feeling is comparative to having the urge to itch a mosquito bite – you know you should not do it, but you do it anyway. Overcoming this was not an easy task. It was not explicitly stated, but Sedaris grew up with the slightest of bit depression. His eccentric lifestyle caused him to become an introvert while growing up because he would constantly bounce off the walls. He could not control himself much as a kid, but when he began college, he changed his life. He could not hold himself back anymore, “I’m unsure of the scientific aspects, but for some reason, my nervous habits faded about the same time I took up cigarettes. Maybe it was coincidental or perhaps the tics retreated in the face of an adversary than crying out in tiny voices” (21). Sedaris took his new

hobby to drive himself away from the ugly old Truth. He moved on from his OCD. He moved on from his ticking. He moved on from his depression. He found something that helped start a new beginning. Sedaris listened to himself, and did whatever he thought would benefit him. He did not move to the next chapter in his life for someone else, he moved on because he loathed his personality. He moved on to the next chapter in his life without the assistance of anyone else. Sedaris had his own epiphany without the help of an intervention. When he took that new habit to break that old habit, he knew that it would be gone. Even if he tries to go back to the repeated actions, he cannot. This new habit is his new beginning, and another chance to move on from it.
College was the place of new beginnings. That one moment of Sedaris’ life changed everything. Without being introduced to smoking, drugs, and alcohol, his whole life would have been quite different. There would be no hitchhiking adventures. There would be no nudist colony. There would be no Naked. His whole novel is based on his lovely experiences that he went through. It is like a domino effect, without his new substances he would still be ticking and repeatedly licking those mailboxes. It affected him holistically. As Dory the blue regal fish would say, “Just keep swimming”. A very cliché statement it is, yes, but this is what Sedaris is saying in a nutshell. His life was not a breeze. He did have those moments where he probably wanted to punch a wall, but he did not. Although moving to a life filled with smoking, drugs, and alcohol may not seem like the best idea, whatever it takes for Sedaris to have a fabulous life will work. Even after all of his traumatic experiences, he manages to keep starting again and again. It is a daily routine: wake up, do something crazy, go sleep. That is what makes David Sedaris who he is.
Everyone grows up. Everyone will end up having to make their own choices for themselves without any help from mom or dad or brother or sister. Secluding himself from everyone gradually produced depression. Living through distressing moments caused Sedaris to development into his own human being. He discovered who he is. This was his anagnorisis. Being introduced to these magic materials was pivotal to the novel as a whole because it helps the audience understand that Sedaris’ life was not peachy at all. He is just a regular person who happens to have distressing events lie on his shoulders. He does move on chapter after chapter without losing focus.