A Guilty Affliction

Matthew, modestly insightful, and reserved, is a twenty-three-year-old dental student living in Boston. After waking up in a hospital bed to see his parents and sister, he learns that he has survived a car accident, having been hit by a drunk driver. Experiencing symptoms from his concussion, he follows the orders of his doctor and remains out of classes. Quickly, in addition to the physical pain, he discovers that he has no memory of the crash or the time leading up to it.

In the following two weeks, the pain in Matthew's stomach and head grows worse. Regarding his lack of memory from before the crash, curiosity turns to frustration, which turns to anger, which turns to obsession. As his condition worsens, Matt regrettably touches his family with his own physical and psychological distress, tainting his relationships with them.

Through a series of vivid flashbacks interwoven throughout the ongoing plot, a bizarre picture of Matthew's life becomes slowly uncovered. Throughout his strange journey to physical and mental recovery, Matthew questions the nature of his existence, and the suffering inherent to life, while trying to put the broken pieces of his memory back together.

As the story carries on, the reader is dragged down with Matthew into the darkness and confusion of his own damaged mind. The semi-chronological plot advances, and wholes in the story become filled, revealing a more complex story than initially portrayed. The narrative of Matthew and his family in the weeks following the crash continues to develop in a confusing way until the final scenes, when all becomes clear regarding Matthew's life and the sentiment of the work as a whole.