Phantom Limb Pain

In Saknussemm’s writing “Phantom Limb Pain” he tells of a childhood memory that probably helped shape a large part of his character.  Without giving a great amount of detail, he safely holds the reader responsible for developing the clear meaning of his memory.

Saknussemm indicated that he had never been in Miller King’s house before he went there to visit him after King’s motorcycle accident in which he lost his arm.  Without directly stating the reason why, one can easily envision that the long term envious relationship the two neighbor boys have had, played a large part in the reason why he had never been there before.  Saknussemm says that he was also having “crazy dreams” that left him feeling “responsible for the accident”, but didn’t give detail as to why.  Once again, the guilt of performing a harmful ceremony, just two days before King’s accident, in a place where the two boys had negatively crossed paths in the past, left one safe to assume this was the reason for Saknussemm’s dreams.

A pivotal point in the story is when Saknussemm finds King stuck on a fence and helps him down.  When King eloquently accepted the help, a lifelong lesson was realized by Saknussemm.  King really was a hero.  He was not afraid to accept any challenge dealt to him.  He was a true leader.

I enjoyed how Saknussemm closed his piece by tying the last sentence into the theme of his story.  Using words like “grew bigger” and “a little more real” makes one closely relate to the title “Phantom Limb Pain”.