Everyone gets a case of the sads sometimes, but Will experiences this to the extreme in Freewill. Dude doesn't just lock himself inside his house for days on end and sleep all the time—he literally loses track of time and doesn't remember doing things, like making whole whirligigs in woodshop. Reality seems like it's just too much for him at times, and before things get better in the end, Will goes past depression and into a bit of madness. It's a dark world for our main man, and things look pretty dicey at a point. But luckily, before he completely loses it, he rallies. Phew.
Questions About Madness
- How does Will's state of mind affect his vision of the world?
- Will is suffering from mental illness, and he's also our narrator. So how do we know which of his thoughts we can trust? How does he know which of his thoughts he can trust?
- This one is tricky: Is Will hearing voices or just arguing with/listening to different parts of himself (the wise part, the confused part, etc.)?
Chew on This
Will has certainly had his fair share of hardship—hey there, dead parents—but ultimately, his struggle isn't based in what's happened in his life, but instead in mental illness.
After everything Will's been through, he isn't so much mentally ill as just having a hard time rallying and making sense of it all.