A memoir without villains?

There are no masked killers, or robbers who break into Moira Farr’s house in her memoir, but villains are surely exposed. A villain does not need to be a physical being with a dirty plan. A villain can be a thing or a situation that brings about terror or harm, and in Life After Daniel this is the case.

The most obvious villain in the story is Depression. Although Daniel’s mental illness never takes a physical form it still reaps just as much havoc as a man with a gun in the local bank. Depression constantly stalked, teased, and tortured Daniel, and eventually lead him to death. Depression was not a man who pulled the trigger but it was the force behind the bullet.

Another villain in the memoir is alcohol. Many times I have heard alcohol, or drugs referred to as demons in the lives of those who fall captive to such substances. Daniel was one of those people who were drawn into the initial illusion of the fun, sexy side of alcohol, and was then held a prisoner.

I believe the final villain in Moira Farr’s memoir is in fact her obliviousness. In no way do I think it was Moira’s fault that Daniel’s life ended the way it did, and I don’t think she saw the warning signs and consciously decided to ignore them. I do however feel that after sensing Daniel’s depression, and witnessing his substance abuse she should have taken the time to look into how to help a depressed loved one, and what the warning signs for suicide are. Instead, like most people Moira chose to deny that things with Daniel could ever get that bad. No one believes that THEIR loved one could ever kill themselves, and that denial and obliviousness can end up being the worst villain in their loved one’s story.