Childhood Trauma

A major theme in The Lock Artist is the traumatic experience that Mike undergoes when he is 8 years old. This trauma is not explicitly described until quite late in the novel, but Mike hints at it throughout his narrative. In the first chapter, Mike claims the reader has probably heard of him from the summer of 1990 when he was 8 years old. He was in the news for a few days as the Miracle Boy, and most people felt bad that his story was so horrible. He decides to write his story down, skipping around some, since he has not spoken a word in all these years, and though he cannot start with that day in June 1990, maybe he will be able to face it one day while he is writing. Mike is pronounced physically recovered by the time he is 9 years old except he still cannot speak...