"An emotionally disturbed teenaged boy is being questioned in a mental hospital about his history; the boy's father testified against organized crime and the family had to join the Witness Protection Program. The boy has amnesia and cannot remember most of his life, such as where his parents are and what happened to send him to the mental hospital. His memory gradually unfolds as the book progresses."
Meaghan, Resident Scholar
"Adam Farmer, a young teen, is placed into a mental institution because he has amnesia. His thereapist, Brint, wants to find out what happened to him.
Adam's father testified against wrongdoers and they tried to kill him. The family changed their names and occupation and location. Adam embarks on a trip to what he thinks is to visit his father in the hospital. However, the reader learns at the end of the book that Adam suffers from mental illness and was never on a trip to visit his father, but rather on a bike ride around the asylum.
The novel goes through chapters of either Adam on his determined "trip to see his father" and his sessions with Brint. Brint questions Adam, and at times Adam is suspicious of who Brint really is but in the end is convinced he is just a psyciatrist. In truth, Brint is an investigator and Adam is just crazy.
The book is called "I Am the Cheese" because if the reader recalls at the end of the book, Adam starts to sing "The Farmer in the Dell" and the last phrase of the song is "The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone." This is Adam. Adam is describing himself. Cheese is merely nothing so too is Adam. The cheese is alone, and unimportant, just like Adam.
Now, here is a question for all readers: Cheese has one importance to it- the fact that it is a food and it can help survival for a human being, makes cheese have a different meaning to it, doesn't it? Now, cheese has suddenly become important. Well, in a way so too is Adam, for the government relies on him to find out the truth of what really happened with his family. So now the title has another significance to it, doesn't it?"
Leah, Resident Scholar
Click above for the new Obama Girl Parody video!
Review Analysis of I Am the Cheese
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 1960's-1970's
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Battle with a psychiatrist
Yes
Brain/Body disability?
- mental illness
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- private investigator
- government investigator
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a substantial amount
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 5 (an average amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids
- sinister, like an X-Files Gomer Pyle
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Person
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
