Paralytic Reaction

Wright reacts too his mother's paralysis by paralyzing himself: closing himself off from the rest of the world with a wall of pain and cynicism. But I'm getting ahead of myself. When he first sees his mother is paralyzed he is afraid, both for his mother's life and his own, as the two are inextricably linked. He then sends for his grandmother, a show of dependency, but refuses or accepts very little of the food offered to him by his neighbors; a clear sign of independence. Wright is retreating from others and instead is focusing more on the support of his family to carry him through his now greatly-altered life. As his mother gets the immediate attention she needs and Wright realizes she will not die, but simply be a burden on his family for years to come, his reaction changes. He connects all the suffering and poverty he has gone through with his mother's illness and her pain, and this symbol causes him to build the aforementioned wall. He no longer meets people afresh, but meets them colored by a melancholy cynicism shaped by his mother's suffering. He can no longer accept joy for what it is, but must remain skeptical of true happiness. His mother's illness prevents him from experiencing life for what it is because he is behind his wall, paralyzed and alone.