The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

“[…] I wondered if entering this world with my eyes shut tight was a genetically predisposed instinct.”

The author uses foreshadowing in suggesting life might be painful for Sam. His genetic condition eventually leads to social alienation. The idea of eyes and vision becomes a motif in the narrative, relating to Sam’s complicated relationship with his physical eyes but also symbolically tying to the way he “sees” himself.

“My mother, of course, deemed my red eyes to be ‘God’s will.’”

The phrase “God’s will” becomes a recurrent incantation from Sam’s mother, who lives by the belief that God is in control of everything. However, it is a concept Sam struggles to understand and that he soon rejects; he cannot fathom that a benevolent God’s will would involve human suffering.

“I got an idea, closed my eyes, and in my mind I smashed the piggy bank and emptied out all my prayers.”

Earlier Sam’s mother told him to save his prayers like money in a piggy bank in hopes the school would accept him. Now that he prepares to begin school the next day, Sam is terrified of what the other kids will say about his eyes. He refers to his mother’s advice and “spends” all his prayers, but he struggles to calm his fear with his mother’s transactional view of God.

“My father’s concern that others would be cruel seemed as far from reality as the world I created each night at our dinner table.”

Before attending school, Sam is innocent of the world’s cruelty. His parents create a safe and accepting environment in their home where Sam feels unconditional love and safety. Madeline’s carefully planned nightly dinners symbolize the safety net she creates for Sam.

“I’d worn brown contacts for years. Red eyes had a way of upsetting children.”

Sam’s narration returns to his adulthood in 1989. He reveals he has become an ophthalmologist, a career choice inspired by his personal journey. Ironically, he has chosen to conceal his condition from his patients. This shows he is still self-conscious about his eye color even as an adult. His childhood trauma has followed him into adulthood.

“Fridays were the only day I enjoyed going to school. I knew when the afternoon bell rang, I had a solid two and a half days before I had to reenter Bateman-infested waters.”

The narrator uses a metaphor to compare school to the ocean and David Bateman to a shark circling him. Children who experience bullying often find reasons to stay home to avoid their persecutors. This quotation creates pathos, inviting readers’ empathy for the protagonist. He is an intelligent, capable student who should love school but is tormented by a bully and robbed of the joy of education.

“I picked up The Count of Monte Cristo from my nightstand.”

The author references the classic French novel by Alexander Dumas in which the main character exacts revenge on his enemy. This premise calls to young Sam, who wishes he could escape into a fantasy world, don a disguise, and destroy David Bateman. While reading can be a healthy escape for children, Sam cannot escape the tyranny of David without adult intervention.

“The thought of David Bateman, even after so many years, had unnerved me. The belief that he could be abusing his child made me sick.”

Daniela Bateman’s appearance in Sam’s office disturbs him on many levels. An injured child would already be a distressing sight for Sam, but the circumstances surrounding her injury are all too familiar and painful, reminding him of what David did to him so many years ago. As her physician, he has a duty to alert child protective services if he suspects abuse, but he is concerned his personal connection to the case is complicating the matter.

“I’ll have you know I played Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice.”

Sam is continually surprised by his mother as she reveals more about herself. He begins to view her more as an individual rather than just his mom. Madeline reveals she played the role of Elizabeth Bennet in a play based on Jane Austen’s most famous novel. Elizabeth is known for being a stubborn and prideful character who routinely subverts the societal gender constructs forced on her. Madeline has a similar fiery spirit.

“Odd as it sounds for a guy who should have been sensitive to such things, I was blinded by the raw hope that maybe, just maybe, Donna did like me, despite the color of my eyes.”

Even as Sam’s high school experience progresses much more smoothly than his early years, he still struggles with self-acceptance. The author uses the motif of eyesight and vision as Sam looks back on his life and his “blind[ness]” to Donna’s true intentions. Mickie helps him realize he was naïve to think Donna genuinely cared for him.

“[I]n a sense I guess I was more afraid of him as an adult than as a child.”

Sam’s admission evinces his lingering trauma from David’s abuse. He has never fully recovered, and though he has no physical wounds, the emotional ones remain. As he is once again faced with the bully’s threats, the stakes are higher. Sam must carefully consider his response, prioritizing Daniela’s well-being over his own.

“‘Old family recipe,’ she said without humor.”

As Mickie refers to a hangover remedy as an “[o]ld family recipe,” the small moment is a subtle revelation about her childhood. She mentions her mother’s drinking in passing but never fully reveals an addiction. A “family recipe” is normally a treasured family dish, and the comment is ironic and suggests she was responsible for caring for her mother when she was drunk.

“We’d be who we were, and we could either come to grips with this fact and like the person we’d become, or live with regret and disappointment.”

Sam is deeply disappointed that the school chose Ernie over him for valedictorian. He has tried to find his identity in sports, journalism, and academics, and each time has failed. He is learning the difficult coming-of-age lesson that the search for identity is a chastening and humbling process. One must look beyond societal accolades and social acceptance for self-worth.

“[W]e think our parents will never grow old, perhaps because when they do, we are forced to acknowledge that we will one day grow old, and we face our own mortality.”

Reaching the milestone of high school graduation brings many emotions for Sam. He realizes it has not come without its trials and tribulations. He also recognizes he would not have made it through without the love and support of his family and friends. The moment is bittersweet as he realizes his parents are aging, a thought that intimates the brevity of life.

“None of us is getting out of here alive.”

The author employs foreshadowing with these words from the family barber. Sam mentions his father’s recent health issues, and this passage hints that death in the family is imminent. The words also highlight a motif of mortality, and they hold enough significance to become the title of Part 5 of the novel.

“When I started to wear contact lenses, I put up a bland, brown veil of normalcy not only to the rest of the world but to the person on the other side of the mirror.”

Colored contacts were not available when Sam was younger, but as a young adult, he chooses to conceal his eye color and thus, symbolically, his identity; the narration suggests that the contacts even change Sam’s self-perception. Hiding behind the contacts allows Sam to hide his vulnerability and pain as well.

“I can only repair Daniela’s eye.”

Sam speaks to Trina, Daniela’s mother, pleading with her to expose David’s abuse. This quote has multiple meanings. First, Trina must be the one to confront David. Sam’s job is to repair Daniela’s detached retina, not the broken family. On a deeper level, the situation with Daniela has made Sam realize how much of life is out of his control. For so long, he begged God to fix his eyes, thinking it would fix everything wrong in his life. However, his eye color was only part of his problem.

“The irony was she and I had shared the same bully. In some ways, I saw myself in Daniela, and this was my way of standing up to David Bateman.”

Sam never received closure on his childhood trauma, but in restoring Daniela’s vision and helping Trina see the need to end the abuse, Sam feels he has finally dismantled the bully’s hold on his life. While the young Sam fantasized about revenge, the adult Sam has a more restorative idea of justice.

“This was my purgatory, to atone for my sins.”

Ironically, Sam uses a Catholic idea as a metaphor for his work in the jungles of Costa Rica despite having renounced Catholicism; he struggles to wholly separate from a religion so ingrained into his consciousness. Sam also desires to be rid of the pain so badly that he would be willing to accept the idea of purgatory if it absolved him of his guilt.

“[…] I am not the son of the devil, and neither are you. God gave me extraordinary eyes so that I would live an extraordinary life.”

It took a trip around the world and an encounter with a six-year-old boy for Sam to finally accept his eye color as a gift. As he symbolically washes the contacts away, he sheds the mask under which he has hidden for many years. The innocence and vulnerability of the young Fernando brings Sam to an epiphany: If God gave him red eyes only so that he could one day help this boy, it was all worth it.

“All my mother’s lessons came pouring out of me […]”

The author uses this instance to explore a significant moment in the coming-of-age process. Children and teens spend a tremendous amount of energy railing against the lessons their parents teach them, but eventually, they may realize the value of those lessons. Here, Madeline’s legacy pours out of Sam without any thought. The morals and values have become a part of who he is, and now he seeks to pass them on to the next generation.

“I could not deny that a part of me had brought my mother to Lourdes hoping for exactly what Mickie had warned against—a miracle.”

People believe the spring at Lourdes has divine healing powers, and though Sam has turned from Catholicism, he cannot help but be drawn in by the hope that his beloved parents might be miraculously healed and restored. Deep down, Sam hopes he can find peace in the healing pools, and those hopes are fulfilled.

“Everything happens for a reason, Samuel. Never forget that. Have faith in God’s will.”

Sam’s mother’s final words to him echo what she has imparted to him his entire life. She never wished for him to be different, only for him to accept his fate as God’s plan. When she dies, she leaves a legacy of faith and hope in her only child, which he can pass along to Fernando.