Flying

Flying offers a sense of freedom and mobility, something Shawn will never, in reality, be able to grasp. Shawn is able to fly and experience this emotion each time he has a seizure and his spirit leaves his body. In places, death is also referred to as being related to flying and being set free.

Suffering

This is a key theme throughout the book as it provides motivation for Earl Detraux to end his son’s life. Like Detraux, Sydney McDaniel also leaves his family because he cannot watch Shawn suffer through his seizures. Sydney worries that Shawn undergoes horrendous suffering with each seizure, which occur 6 – 12 times each day, although Sydney has no actual proof the seizures actually cause Shawn pain. In reality, Shawn tells the reader he loves his seizures, because they set him free and allow his spirit to leave his body and soar above the...