Hello everyone,
The story Great Rock n’Roll Pauses tells the story of a family who live in the desert. This family consists of a dad, who works as a doctor. A loving and supportive mom. A 12 year old daughter (and author of the story). And lastly, there is the older brother of the family–Lincoln–who has a hyper-fixation on pauses in rock and roll songs.
The conflict of the story revolves around the father and Lincoln. Lincoln is seemingly obsessed with the pauses found in rock songs, and seems to have little other interests besides this. He does not have any friends aside from his family members, and it is due to this special interest of his. His father wants Lincoln to develop interests in other things, so that his son can make some friends and live a more “normal” life. When Lincoln resists his attempts, this leads to him crying and the father regretting pushing his son so hard.
From reading this story, it seems that Lincoln is autistic. Autistic people tend to be extremely interested in only a few specific things/hobbies. These are called “special interests” and Lincoln has a special interest in the pauses in guitar rifts. Additionally, he has difficulty making friends, a trait commonly found in those with autism. Lastly, the scene where Lincoln begins crying and curls up into a ball after his dad gets upset with him gives me the impression that he is special needs.
While Lincoln does not change in the story, his father does change. He accepts his son’s limited interests and decides to be a better father to him.
This story inspired me when it comes to writing a diagrammatic story in one particular way. During the start of the story, it has a slow burn/pace and introduces readers to the characters. There is a lot of characterization, and we get a good idea of each of the characters by seeing all of these details that don’t impact the plot directly. I could write a story where I do the same thing, introducing all of these small characterizations to get readers invested in who they are reading about and to learn more about them.
– Gibson