Beginning of Book Analysis: Decisions

        Whether it be easy or difficult, daily or annually, we are going to have to make decisions. Some of them may  be more challenging or even more confusing then others, but whether you know it or not we make hundreds of decisions a day; what time to wake up, what to wear that day, what to eat, how to get somewhere, etc. Those are just some of the easy daily ones that we are used to, and since we've become so accustom to these, we end up making the choices with more ease the more we do them.
    

 Unfortunately, there are much harder choices to make which never get easier. Whether it be relationships, what college to go to, or how much to commit your self to one thing such as a sport, the choice just never gets easier and there are always different variables for each thing that we have to consider before making a decision.

        For us, some of those variables may be the weather or the people you are with. For Mack in my book, the variables were more extreme and life changing. For example, he did not know who sent him the letter. It could have easily been someone trying to do something bad to him, instead that person (God) who wrote the letter made it seem friendly as if they were a friend that Mack had not seen in awhile. The note reads, "Mackenzie,
                                                    It's been a while. I've missed you.

                                                    I'll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together.
                                                                                          -Papa" (Young 16)
When Papa says that it has been awhile and he misses him, that suggests that they were recently friends and that he misses talking to him and that they should meet up. That's what makes this letter bizarre, is that although it sounds very friendly and inviting, he doesn't know any person by the name of Papa so he is questioning whether to go or not. He suggested that they meet up and get acquainted again. Unfortunately it was in the shack.

        Mack had recently just had his daughter abducted on a family vacation, and he is very cautious and weary about going here. In the end he decides that the best choice would be to go. He is in a deep depression right now and is losing a friendship with someone who had been his best friend. So he figures he might as well to go and try to get away from everything and maybe get some answers.
"Mack sat and stared at the note. It was confusing and painful trying to sort out the swirling cacophony of disturbing emotions and dark images clouding his mind- a million thoughts traveling a million miles an hour. Finally, he gave up, folded the not, slid it into a small tin box he kept on the desk, and switched off the light" (Young 22). This to me shows that he had a hard time deciphering and actually making the decision on whether or not to go. So eventually after staring at it blankly for awhile and not coming to a conclusion, he put it down, went to sleep and left it for later.
   
            So to put it simply, some decisions in life may be the easy everyday ones, or they could be the ones that are drastic and may change your life and/or how you look at something or someone.