The Blue Helmet

Over the last week, I completed reading "The Blue Helmet". The author,William Bell, lives in Orillia, Ontario and has received several awards for the books he has written over the years. I really enjoyed this book because you can see the changes in Lee when he meets new people and how it makes him a better person. I found the stories from the journal give you a clear image of the disgusting and appalling places he saw, with burned houses and people. The character of Cutter is my favorite because even though he has unusual theories and thoughts about people and life, he is always right. Lee realizes from Cutter that no one is really normal. This realization could be a factor of Lee's acceptance of himself. I think alot of people could relate themselves to this book. But my absolute favorite part of this book is the last sentence when the theme is explained.

The main character, Lee, is a troubled kid who loses his mother at a young age and his father works two jobs to pay the bills. He gets caught trying to break and enter into an auto shop while doing initiation for the Tarantulas, a local gang in Hamilton, Ontario. The Tarantulas set him up and now he is under arrest. He is sent to live and work in his Aunt Reena's cafe in Toronto. There, he sets up a currier business and meets a strange but intelligent man named Bruce Cutter. Weeks after meeting each other, and becoming close friends, Cutter commits suicide. Lee is devastated and shocked when he finds out Cutter has left his whole estate to him. Lee knows there is a reason Cutter left everything to him and he is determined to find out. After hours of searching, he finds a journal, a blue helmet and bloody child's shoe. The journal contains stories of Cutter's war adventures as a peacekeeper between Serbians and Croatians. All the death and horrific sites sent Cutter into a state of anxiety which he could never recover from. Finally, Lee realizes the message Cutter was trying to tell him, you have to face the war inside yourself before you can find peace.