Paralysis

After his mother had a stroke, Wright was afraid to go in and see her. He didn't want to see her in her weakened, paralyzed state because she was so frail. She was the only true authority figure that Wright had growing up, and the removal of that was extremely frightening to him. He had always viewed his mom as very powerful and strong, and when she is paralyzed and sick he suddenly sees a side of her that he has never seen before, realizing that all authority is still only human and can suffer and be weakened just as he. He becomes very afraid of not being accepted into the family of an aunt or an uncle, but when he does end up living with his aunt and uncle, he is unhappy (partially because of the "dead boy's room") and begs to go back to his mother. because he has not known anything but her authority, it is very difficult for him to adjust to any other type of lifestyle, escpecially with his desire to care for his mother but inability to figure out how to help her in any way.