LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE
Do you tak delight in watching films or
listening to pop music? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one
of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your
favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and
oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.
#22. My Lobotomy (Memoir by Howard Dully)
This memoir tells the story of Howard
Dully. In 1960, when he was just twelve years old, he underwent a lobotomy—an
outdated and controversial neurosurgical procedure that cuts the nerve
connections between the frontal lobes and the rest of the brain to treat mental
illness. First introduced in 1936, the procedure was intended to calm patients
by damaging brain connections, but it often resulted in emotional dullness,
serious cognitive impairment, and lasting changes in personality. The medical doctor
who performed the surgery was the man who invented the “ice pick” lobotomy. The
author of this book had asked one critical question throughout his life: “Was
there something had I done that was so horrible I deserved a lobotomy?”
“I
don’t think my stepmother was shopping for a lobotomy the first time she met
Freeman. But she was fed up with me, that was certain.”
ð Dully
writes in his memoir that his stepmother’s strong dislike and sense of being
“fed up” pushed her to seek a drastic solution, eventually bringing her to Dr.
Walter Freeman. Even though other doctors rejected the idea and said Howard was
normal, Dully’s stepmother continued to pursue the procedure with Freeman. The
quote highlights that her actions were driven more by her inability to cope
with a child she did not love than by any real medical need.
“Howard
has been extremely belligerent toward his father and stepmother. He refuses to clean
his room and come home immediately after school. He refuses to prepare,
complete and turn in required school assignments and also causes classroom
disturbances. - The court said it would
house me in Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.”
ð The
quote is significant because it reveals the story his stepmother presented to
doctors—framing typical, rebellious adolescent behavior as something “savage”
and beyond repair. Howard explains that he was not actually ill; instead, he
was a child struggling to live with a strict stepmother. This conflict
ultimately led to a “shattered childhood” and a surgery that later made him
feel like a “zombie.”
**Jean’s
Small Thoughts:
Reading
this memoir about an ordinary man made me feel grateful and encouraged me to
rethink how I view life’s challenges and hardships. Throughout his life, and
especially in his complicated relationship with his stepmother, Howard Dully
endured unfair cruelty and absurd treatment that he never deserved. Reflecting
on a childhood clouded by lies and the irrational actions of the adults around
him, he still chose to face and accept the pain they caused. Rather than
blaming or condemning those who hurt him, he focused on being thankful for his
father and siblings, who patiently supported him and waited for him to find his
way forward in life. He showed me not to blame the darkest moments of the past
for present failures or future setbacks.
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