Change is something that all people have to go through in life, whether it be physical, emotional, or mental. Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man by Thomas Page McBee is one story about how changing in one way can mean doing so in others as well. This memoir is about McBee’s life, relating specifically to his transition from a woman to a man. The book is divided into five main parts, Freeze, Flight, Fight, Rites, and Man Alive. Within these sections McBee tells the story from different times in his life. The memoir starts in South Carolina on August 2010, when McBee was twenty-nine years old, before switching to April of the same year in Oakland, followed by Pittsburgh in 1990 with McBee at ten. The novel continues
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He chose Thomas because he felt it connected him to his past, Thomas was his late uncle’s name, it and made sure he remembered his history, the good and the bad. I think Thomas made the right decision for him because it will allow him to be happy while also being aware of past struggles. Physical changes that started to occur when Thomas started testosterone including gaining muscle and facial hair helped Thomas to see the man he was becoming outside, while the mood swings and irritation caused problems in his marriage, “I could feel myself trapped in the wrong story and the right body” (160). At the end however, Thomas and Parker realized that they needed to be forgiving and give each other a chance to grow. Thomas was happy “to hold the hand of the woman I used to understand in a body that didn’t quite feel like my own and admit I was lost” (168). That would be a very hard experience to go through and without Parker I think it would have taken Thomas much longer to find himself.
I learned many things throughout the book Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man by Thomas Page McBee. Sometimes it is easiest for everyone if a people forgive one another. Letting go of bad things that happen to you can help in making yourself better. People have more than one self and are more than one experience. Change is hard but with the right support it is easier to find your
He chose Thomas because he felt it connected him to his past, Thomas was his late uncle’s name, it and made sure he remembered his history, the good and the bad. I think Thomas made the right decision for him because it will allow him to be happy while also being aware of past struggles. Physical changes that started to occur when Thomas started testosterone including gaining muscle and facial hair helped Thomas to see the man he was becoming outside, while the mood swings and irritation caused problems in his marriage, “I could feel myself trapped in the wrong story and the right body” (160). At the end however, Thomas and Parker realized that they needed to be forgiving and give each other a chance to grow. Thomas was happy “to hold the hand of the woman I used to understand in a body that didn’t quite feel like my own and admit I was lost” (168). That would be a very hard experience to go through and without Parker I think it would have taken Thomas much longer to find himself.
I learned many things throughout the book Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man by Thomas Page McBee. Sometimes it is easiest for everyone if a people forgive one another. Letting go of bad things that happen to you can help in making yourself better. People have more than one self and are more than one experience. Change is hard but with the right support it is easier to find your