Do you think Luis Felipe could have been saved? Was there anything that could have been done after the time we meet him in the book that might have improved his chances or was he a lost cause by that point?
This was so heartbreaking! I had hope for his recovery and truly wanted him to become a standout. I didnt want to believe he was a lost cause.
I hate to think that anyone is beyond saving. However, the saving has to come from within and I believe Luis Felipe was too far down the self-destructive path to recover. Yes, he may have been neglected as a child but as an adult he had opportunities, both in terms of hands reaching out to help him and definitely, the financial means, to make different decisions. Ultimately, he chose his path. It wasn’t anyone else’s responsibility to save him - although, several felt guilty.
Yes he could have - if he wanted to be saved. Maybe if Eden had entered his life earlier, she could have helped. He had set up his lifestyle to get “even” with his father. After his father died he could not change without help. Not the help of a clinic - but from real relationships and friends which he didn’t have.
Thomas tried to save him by requiring rehab as a condition of receiving money after his father died. But no one really tried to pursue a relationship with him in order to help him. Everyone seemed to want to use him for their own ends.
This was pretty sad, wasn’t it. People did try to save him - I think he said he’d been to rehab multiple times in his teens - but it’s hard to save someone who has such a self-destructive bent.