Half a Life

Half A Life

In the memoir Half A Life, Darin Strauss, is a normal teenager that goes through an unfortunate situation early in his life. He is driving with some of his friends to go golfing when a fellow student, Celine Zilke, swerves into his car on her bike. Celine dies later in the hospital and Darin is devastated. Many of his classmates were sympathetic of his case, but many of Celine's friends would not look at Darin the same after the accident. They were angry with him that he took someone away who was special to them. The Zilke family though, was surprisingly sympathetic with Darin because they believed it to be an unfortunate accident as well and that Darin was not responsible for Celine's death. Before the accident, Darin was generally a shy, univolved student at North Shore High school, but it wasn't until Celine's mother told Darin,"But I want you to remember something. Whatever you do in your life, you have to do it twice as well now. Because you are living it for two people (Strauss 56)," that he wanted to make a change and do things right in his life for Celine's sake. This is where Darin's first identity change occurs.

Darin goes to college after high school and he sees it as a fresh start for his identity because no one knows about the accident unless he tells them. Unfortunately, his memories of the accident still haunt him all throughout college and cause him to be devoured in his studies and not his social life. When Darin finally starts to go on dates he is conflicted whether or not to tell the girls about the accident evacuee he doesn't want them to take pity on him. He keeps his public identity vague and mysterious, while is private one is a train wreck of kept emotions. Darin feels like his guilt about Celine's death will never go away. "Name an experience: it's a good bet I've thought of Celine while experiencing it (Strauss 132)."

It isn't until Darin meets Susannah, his future wife, that he feels like he can open up completely...