Tape OZK002

I read up to the second section of this book, referred to as OZK002.
Despite the countless questions that I already have about the three different mysteries, more new characters are brought into the mystery, building up more questions and suspension. In tape OZK002, one character that Brint foreshadows in the story during the conversation between Brint and Adam is Paul Delmonte. Adam apparently is not really familiar with the name, yet refuses to talk about him. Neither does he wish to talk about Amy, whom he does remember as the girl he shared his love with. A clear message of hostility is sent to Brint as he even denies the medication. Brint then cautiously asks for forgiveness, trying to be friendly by assuring Adam that he is simply a guide trying to help Adam recover his memory, in an attempt to break down the wall of hostility. The story goes back to the bike trip as Adam continues his journey to Rutterburg. The song, “The Farmer in the Dell” is introduced as Adam is in deep memory of how his father used to happily sing it for him, enforcing the song to his family, seeing that it is the song written for their family since it has their last name in it.

Hostile air starts to fill the conversation as Adam is in denial of answering Brint’s question about Paul Delmonte. There is something about Paul Delmonte that brings such curiosity to my mind. It is Adam’s denial of talking about Paul, despite Adam’s lost memory, of which Paul was, that brings more interest of who this character is. Although Robert Cormier doesn’t seem as if he tries hard to have us guessing and wondering who Paul Delmonte is, he somehow made me keep reading to find out who Paul Delmonte is and what kind of role he had in Adam’s life. Robert Cormier is somehow able to show that Paul Delmonte is a big character taking a big role in this mystery, within a simple conversation, even when Brint does not give any clues that he was a big part in Adam’s life. Robert Cormier’s writing style is simply astounding, trapping me into this mystery without me noticing that I am already behind the bars.

The reason that I was as engaged in the story as Adam sung “The Farmer in the Dell” was that there was something suspicious about it. Adam remembers how his father strongly enforced the song upon their family, saying that the song perfectly fit their family. There seems to have been something about their last name that Adam’s father wants to be imprinted on Adam’s mind. It made me fall deeper and deeper into trying to figure out this mystery. Questions constantly popped into my head. Why Adam’s father would try to imprint on Adam’s mind that their last name was Farmer? Or is it just that Adam’s father found the coincidence so exciting? If Adam’s father was trying to imprint on Adam’s mind that their last name was Farmer, what caused him to do that? The list of questions was endless. However, it was not only the suspicion that I have of the song that got me into my reading. It was him travelling alone without his family, trying to remember happy memories that he had with his parents. With my family not anywhere close by my side, many times, I found myself travelling and doing things alone since my family is in another country. In those lonely moments, I would also look back at the happy memories that I had with my family to try to keep myself from bursting in tears. Strangely, it was not my best friends or the people whom I thought I loved the most that I thought of when I was lonely. It was family that came into my mind. Likewise, it was his parents that Adam tried to remember of when he was lonely, not Amy or other close friends that he had. This showed the significance and importance of parents in one’s life. Adam reminded me of myself and the hard times that I had to spend alone, making my heart sink deeper and deeper as I read.