Slake's Limbo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (July 2007)

Slake's Limbo is a novel for young adults, written by Felice Holman in 1974. The book is about a young adolescent boy, Aremis Slake, who runs away from "home" to live in the subway and stays for 121 days. This novel has received several honors including a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award best book for young adult's citation ,and an American Library Association notable book citation in 1978.

[edit] Plot Outline

Aremis Slake lives in a room under ground in the subway station. It soon becomes the home he has never known. He collects used newspapers off of subway trains and makes a living selling them. He has two regular customers: the cleaning lady, and a man with a turban. A major theme throughout the book is Slake's low self-esteem and seldom experiences with empathy, which are dealt with throughout the course of the book.

With the money that he makes, he buys food from the local diner, and soon becomes a big duty ball a regular customer. The people at the diner see him there every day and have sympathy for this homeless boy.They offer him a sweeping job and pay him with food sufficient to meet his needs. Also, whatever he finds on the floor he gets to keep, so Slake eventually has quite a collection of various items he's organized and used to decorate his cave.

There is also occasionally sections of the book entitled "On Another Track", about the parallel life of a man named Willis Joe.

Willis Joe is a middle class motor man who also has an internal dilemma. He conducts trains with the depressing mindset that people are like sheep, lacking the empathy essential for psychological health.

At the climax of the book, Willis Joe meets Slake and their paths coincide. Terrified, Slake scrambles on the subway track because he has pneumonia and needs help, because his home was doomed to be sealed up due to repairs needed in the subway. He scrambles onto the track with a sign that says STOP and Willis Joe saves him, stopping the train with a determination he had not experienced for years.

When Slake awakes in a hospital, he decides to flee for the rooftops. He sees his symbolic bird fly away, ending a miserable period in his life and signifying optimism. He then departs with renewed hope and purpose.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article lacks information on the notability of the subject matter. Please help improve this article by providing context for a general audience, especially in the lead section. (July 2007)