In the lake of the woods Essay Example for Free

In the lake of the woods Essay I believe that everything that happened in the story is an effect of John’s sufferings. We can say that John is the real victim in this book. The story tells us that John, as a child was frequently abused verbally and physically by his alcoholic father, whom to other children seemed the perfect father. John then turns to his fantasy of being a sorcerer in order to treat himself from the abuse. According to Penn State Children’s Hospital, over the long run, abused children are more likely to use drugs, become sexually promiscuous, have low self esteem, exhibit extremely passive or aggressive behavior, have difficulty with interpersonal relationships, perform poorly in school, have frequent nightmares, and experience depression that can lead to attempted suicide. These may explain how John became a not-so normal adult, who now believes that he is in fact, the sorcerer. In one long-term study, as many as 80 percent of young adults who had been abused met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at age 21 (Child Welfare Information Gateway). Kathy’s disappearance provides us a venue to think of what John could have done. O’Brien, the author of In the Lake of the Woods, lets us readers decide. In a human rights point of view, I firmly believe that child abuse has immeasurable effects as proven by the statements above. A physically abused child may become as violent as his oppressor or even more. With this, I can say that John’s psychological health was affected and this is why Kathy, his wife disappeared. It can be that John, spilled hot water over Kathy when he said he poured the boiling water on the plants. It only manifests that John has violent tendencies. John’s psychological health may have also been deterred by his participation in the Vietnam massacre. He is guilty of his In the Lake of the Woods page 2 participation and is trying to erase the thought by moving to another place. And his plan did not work. We can say that John may have murdered his wife and plans to kill himself afterwards. John’s human right was violated as a child and come his adult life, he has done the same. Keeping human rights in mind, this is what I think happened in the story. This is not exclusive to the book but is also prevalent in today’s society. Wars are waged because someone’s human rights were stepped on, fathers hit their spouses because they were also abused by their fathers. It only says that human rights violation is a disease. It is a social cancer that leads to death and violence. The book tells us how human rights play a role and that it is not just a set of rules but a law that protects our lives and our future. Bibliography â€Å"Long-term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect†. Child Welfare Information Gateway. 9 December 2006. http://www. childwelfare. gov/pubs/factsheets/long_term_consequences. cfm â€Å"Child Physical Abuse†. Penn State Children’s Hospital. 9 December 2006. http://www. hmc. psu. edu/childrens/healthinfo/pq/physicalabuse. htm.