Adam Grows Up in ‘The Overstory’
Mr. Appich plants trees for each of his children, an act that shows some reverence for life. But he is also the father whose presence equals ridicule in Adam’s heart.
Before their fifth child arrives, the family sits down to choose another tree. Adam alone takes the choice seriously. “What if we’re wrong?”
His father brushes off his insistence that they need to pick the right tree, and his scorn devolves into abuse.
So begins a childhood-long pattern of Adam being misunderstood, disregarded, and bullied.
He retreats into the natural world, culminating in a middle school science fair entry reporting his meticulous observation of an ant colony.
The judges accuse him of cheating, and Adam is crushed.
“They can’t believe a kid worked for months on an original idea, for no reason at all except the pleasure of looking until you see something.”
