Re-reading progress

So after reading so quickly through the book the first time, and then dealing with a family crisis, it took me awhile to get back on track with re-reading this text.  However, as I sat down to begin again, I first reviewed my first post and Anna's comment about the concept of "relating" to a work even without experiencing similar circumstances. 
Well funny enough, because of aforementioned family issues, my brother ended up hospitalized for several days and spending time with him within those confines actually gave me a very clear perspective on America's environment.  Therefore, little did I know that if I had waited a couple weeks, I would be able to very much relate in a literal spectrum.
This afternoon my mother and I picked my brother up at the airport from college for Thanksgiving break and he is doing great, so I know he has mentally persevered through his experience in the hospital, where he had to deal with talking to several different doctors and therapists.  We endured a couple uncomfortable family conversations with a social worker/therapist to clarify how my brother was doing and the state of our entire family's emotions.  This reminded me greatly of America's talks with Dr. B and the motivation to talk or stay silent on issues that hold highly important emotional stakes.
Many of the patients at the hospital were not fortunate like my brother and remained at the hospital for a long term time period.  They become trapped in the system just like America, for whatever their reasons may be.  Some gain clarity in the experience, others go nuts and lose all hope.  It's an extremely high-tension environment at all times.

On a different note, I recently viewed the film It's Kind of a Funny Story, which takes place in the Pysch Ward of a hospital, where the young protagonist checks himself in, in order to gain support to battle his own demons in his adolescence.  I saw a lot of similar behavior in that movie as well, about how people function in these isolated environments with a high-stress level to handle. 

Intertextualizing!  Inferencing! Crazyyyy.