Independent Novel Study Assignment #19
Do I agree or disagree with the author?
In The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, many questions about the plausibility of certain events are raised. How did Trisha survive 9 days without drinking water or food? Why did her mom not notice her? What is that beast that nearly killed her in the end? While this is a fictional story, there are aspects realistic and should have realistic expectations.
Stephen King, the author, decided that Trisha would walk far from the path after finding herself lost. She would proceed to walk herself further and further until she utterly vanished. I disagree with this decision. Trisha, as a 9-year-old likely without the grown instinct to manage the initial stress of being officially lost, would probably practice her freeze-up instinct. She is young enough that the response to her issue could be a fight-or-flight response, but a situation as serious would be more of a mental flight. Physically still, yet mentally on a record player. I feel that her reaction should have been visceral, not a slow and nearly stress-free development. Her first struggle to overcome should have been mental overexertion.