Rewrite

Betty Huang 

                                            The Change of Cocoon

           What is love? Love is a giant mutual power which can connect people's hearts, lets them become closer and changes their personalities. No one wants to always be alone and always be the "different type" in others' eyes. Everyone yearns for someone who could give a little piece of love to them, care about them and never give up on them. This love will change them. In Me and You, Olivia trusts Lorenzo and shares her feelings with him, and gives Lorenzo a special experience of being needed, which lets Lorenzo know how to care about other people and actually do something to help others; In the film, Lilo&Stitch, Lilo teaches Stitch the meaning of love and family, and she shares her’s with Stitch, making him feel warm and safe. Because of this, Stitch changes from an evil cold-blood monster to an important indispensable member of Lilo's little sweet family. Because of two Olivia and Lilo’s gentleness and patience, Lorenzo and Stitch open their minds and become to more caring people. 

             Me and You shows how Lorenzo, an isolated boy, opens his mind and becomes to a mature and reliable man because of the days which he spent with Olivia in the cellar. Lorenzo used to be a lonely boy who was lack of safety, and he does not trust anyone because when he was a little boy his father forced him to swim by suddenly throwing him into the sea, although he was very afraid of water. “You were down in the cockpit playing with your toys, they came up to you from behind, slipped your armbands off and you started wriggling, yelling like they were skinning you alive” (Ammaniti 139) that was what Olivia saw by herself. This indicates how terrible Lorenzo’s father is. He does not care about Lorenzo’s feeling at all. The way he treats his own kid is kind of cruel. The actions which Lorenzo did show he was extremely scared because of this, and this is a horrible experience for him which left an unforgettable nightmare in his deep mind. This is reason why Lorenzo resists trusting people because he was betrayed by one of his dearest people. He lost the ability of trust and closed his mind when he was a such young boy. He cannot get involved with others, and he shows his tough and stubborn side in order to protect himself. He lies to his mother that he is going to the ski trip with his friends, but actually he is hiding in the cellar alone. This portrays that a lonely and sympatric boy locks himself in his own world which is like the dark cellar and refuses to feel the sunshine outside. He needs someone to open the door of the dark room inside his heart. 

                 Olivia is the one who changes Lorenzo because she rushed into Lorenzo’s world accidentally and brought him a totally different experience which he has never had before. She is an addict, and she has bad relationship with others, specifically, her father. When she was suffering by withdrawal, she came to the cellar.  At first, Lorenzo did not want Olivia to come in because he does not trust Olivia. He is vigilant against her because he was afraid that Olivia would reveal his secret. However, when he let her in and sees: “she looked liked she’d been chewed up and spat out by a monster who had found her too bitter to eat” (Ammaniti 91) he feels pity for her. So Lorenzo takes care of her and finds medicine for her, and he feels like he is a useful man, a hero. This portrays that the feeling of being needed is amazing, and it gains Lorenzo sense of accomplishment by helping his half-sister, which holds two young person’s hearts closer little by little. Lorenzo is no longer as selfish as before and he learns how to care about others because of this. Because of Lorenzo’s great efforts, Olivia feels better. She has a heart-to-heart talk with Lorenzo and dances with him: “ But that evening I danced, and when I danced I felt something I’d never felt before. I felt alive-it took my breath away”(Ammaniti 143). This shows that because of Olivia, Lorenzo overcomes the thing which he hates the most-dancing, and he feels alive which he is dancing. This is a certainly new experience for him.  Lorenzo is thinking: “I knew that beyond that door the world was waiting for me, and that I would be able to talk to the others like I was one of them. I could leave. I could go to boarding school. I could change the furniture in my bedroom” (Ammaniti 143). This shows that because of Olivia, Lorenzo starts to think about his own, think about his life and think about the world around him. He discovers the truly himself which is hopeful and positive. He starts to use his heart to feel, and everything suddenly becomes bright and meaningful. He is changing little by little like a cocoon which is going to get out the struggle and ready to become a butterfly.