Guilt can manifest itself in many ways, and Elwood had an especially hard time with it. Can you sympathize with his fear of leaving the house, or even his room? Have you ever known someone who suffered from agoraphobia?
I cannot imagine living with the guilt that Elwood must have felt. It is understandable how overcome he felt, how he could not move past this incident. I do not know how this led to agoraphobia, but I am sure it could. I have not know anyone with true agoraphobia, but I do know people who prefer to stay home, are overwhelmed by too may people or too much noise when they go out.
Elwood let the incident destroy him. The SIL enabled him also. I have never known anyone who could not leave their house.
I can understand how the guilt over whelmed him, but I truly feel that some psychiatric help would have helped him. And I felt that those who cared for him should have pushed this more. I have never know anyone with this condition.
Yes, I sympathized with Elwood and it was tragic that he did not get the help he so desperately needed. But you can’t make a grown man cooperate with a doctor if he is determined not to do so.
Yes, I have experience dealing with an agoraphobic loved one. It was not caused by guilt, but by severe anxiety. And it is very difficult to understand and navigate. That’s all I wish to say about it, for privacy and other reasons, aside from “Don’t judge.”
Guilt is a heavy burden to carry. I imagine not a day went by when Elwood didn’t mentally punish himself for what happened to Ruthie. Elwood needed help and I blame June and Max for not continuing to try and find him the help he needed. They were both getting something out of the situation. Max only came out when he couldn’t talk to Elwood directly about the progress on the script. June was living in a world that she had created that consisted of only the two of them. I’m not sure if deep down she wanted Elwood to get well. With that said, Elwood was able to curl further and further into his guilt. I’m not sure I know anyone who has suffered from this disease, but I know how easy it can be to become a recluse. With home delivery for everything you might need, it would be easy to never go out.
I’ve never known anyone with agoraphobia but I could understand Elwood’s desire not to leave his house. I think that he would have benefitted from some psychiatric help. I also think that Jane didn’t want him to get better. She wanted to be the only person in his life.