Characters
Johnny is an example of a truly valiant person. He is selfless in his hope that he will not cause too much pain for others. In Johnny's last few weeks on earth, he still hungers for knowledge. He does not give up because of his illness. He still has hopes and dreams intact.
His parents are also notable for the remarkable degree of communication and care they managed to share with each other and their son when his diagnosis was confirmed, and on to the end of his life. Although by the time of his diagnosis they had divorced and were living separately, they transcended distance, time, and whatever history had led them to separate in order to discuss carefully and kindly the options, care, and ongoing prognosis for his life.
Frances Gunther, his mother, takes care to have conversations with him about the ultimate issues of life and suffering as addressed in many cultures worldwide, making spiritual writings accessible to him and impressing on him the value of his thoughts and the effect of his actions on others.
Johnny's character is inspirational to not only his parents, but his caregivers as well, who employ sometimes radical treatments to try and save his life. Among them are Canadian neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield and Dr. Max Gerson, whose Gerson diet was used.
Wilder Penfield wrote a letter to his family after his death saying, "for such there must be an immortality which we who tinker at the body may guess at but not understand."
Read more about this topic: Death Be Not Proud (book)
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“The first glance at History convinces us that the actions of men proceed from their needs, their passions, their characters and talents; and impresses us with the belief that such needs, passions and interests are the sole spring of actions.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“The more gifted and talkative one’s characters are, the greater the chances of their resembling the author in tone or tint of mind.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Do you set down your name in the scroll of youth, that are written down old with all the characters of age?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)