Follow TV Tropes

Following

History Literature / LikeAFishUnderstandsATree

Go To

OR

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: George masturbates in his room while he thinks about Tracy. He's never been given any sex education - he only knows that he wishes Tracy could be there while he does it, and maybe even touch him, but he's worried she'd find it rude.

to:

* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: George masturbates in his room while he thinks about Tracy. He's never been given any sex education - -- he only knows that he wishes Tracy could be there while he does it, and maybe even touch him, but he's worried she'd find it rude.



* SleepsWithBothEyesOpen: Susan falls asleep with her eyes open in class. She's usually awakened by the bell, too late to understand what the homework assignment is. When she first arrived at her new school she would ask the other kids, but now they don't want to talk to her.

to:

* SleepsWithBothEyesOpen: Susan falls asleep with her eyes open in class. She's usually awakened by the bell, too late to understand what the homework assignment is. When she first arrived at her new school school, she would ask the other kids, but now they don't want to talk to her.

Added: 270

Removed: 255

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
A Date With Rosie Palms is no longer a trope


* ADateWithRosiePalms: George masturbates in his room while he thinks about Tracy. He's never been given any sex education - he only knows that he wishes Tracy could be there while he does it, and maybe even touch him, but he's worried she'd find it rude.


Added DiffLines:

* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: George masturbates in his room while he thinks about Tracy. He's never been given any sex education - he only knows that he wishes Tracy could be there while he does it, and maybe even touch him, but he's worried she'd find it rude.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* FantasyForbiddingMother: George's mum believes that the idea of two adults with Down syndrome living independently is an impossible fantasy, and blames the recreational center for planting the idea in his head.

Added: 153

Changed: 25

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with [[LivingProgram sentient characters]]. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], who is programmed to be in love with her and is on a quest to rescue a character based on her from captivity, and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.

to:

George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with [[LivingProgram sentient characters]]. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], who is programmed to be in love with her and is on a quest to rescue a character based on her from captivity, and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with apartment and marry his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.


Added DiffLines:

* TheirFirstTime: [[spoiler:George and Tracy finally get to move in together. On their first night, George doesn't know what to do, so Tracy shows him.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Oemor eventually learns to fight the joystick and move independently.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* MyBelovedSmother: Mum believes George is too "special" to do various things he wants to do, like get a job and play computer games for adults.

Added: 487

Changed: 110

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with [[LivingProgram sentient characters]]. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.

to:

George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with [[LivingProgram sentient characters]]. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], who is programmed to be in love with her and is on a quest to rescue a character based on her from captivity, and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.


Added DiffLines:

* WelcomeToCorneria: [[spoiler:Susan, George, Tracy, and Oemor finally beat the game together, and Oemor finds the cavern where the NPC Susan is being held. However, she can only say "Oemor my love? Is that you? Have you come to save me? Oemor my saviour set me free so I can once again return to my land and my dear father," over and over again. Oemor, who has gotten to know the real Susan through her entries in an in-game journal, is devastated by how different "she" is in person.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* AndIMustScream: Oemor hates when Susan pauses the game because he's trapped immobile.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with sentient characters. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.

to:

George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with [[LivingProgram sentient characters.characters]]. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* DisappearedDad: George is the product of a teen pregnancy. His mum raised him by herself until Adam entered the picture.


Added DiffLines:

* ParentWithNewParamour: When Mum and Adam first met, Adam played football with George and unsuccessfully tried to teach him math. His apparent friendliness was only due to his belief that George's intellectual disability could be "fixed" with proper parenting. Once Adam realized that George was never going to be any more normal, he mostly ignored him.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* GoryOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath: The company that produced ''Nephilim Caves'' took Oemor's code from a character in their earlier game, ''Megadeath''.

to:

* GoryOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath: GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath: The company that produced ''Nephilim Caves'' took Oemor's code from a character in their earlier game, ''Megadeath''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* BasementDweller: George's mum is adamant that he will never move out.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: George masturbates in his room while he thinks about Tracy. He's never been given any sex education - he only knows that he wishes Tracy could be there while he does it, and maybe even touch him, but he's worried she'd find it rude.
* GoryOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath: The company that produced ''Nephilim Caves'' took Oemor's code from a character in their earlier game, ''Megadeath''.
* NamedLikeMyName: Susan's last name is [[Creator/SusanSarandon Sarandon]]. She's embarrassed by it, and annoyed that her parents didn't realize they'd named her after a movie star.


Added DiffLines:

* SayMyName: Oemor screams "SUSAN!" every time he dies in the game.


Added DiffLines:

* ThatCloudLooksLike: George's bedroom is in the attic, with a window over his bed. He likes to look through it and look for shapes in the clouds.
* TitleDrop: "George understood writing like a fish understands a tree. It cast a shadow over areas of his life, he knew it was there, and he could do nothing about it."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

[[quoteright:309:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/likeafishunderstandsatree.jpg]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

''Like a Fish Understands a Tree'' is a 2005 science fiction novel by Helen Collins.

George is a man with Down syndrome who lives with his mum, his seventeen-year-old half-sister Susan, and his stepdad Adam. As a Christmas present, Susan receives a video game called ''Nephilim Caves'', the first game with sentient characters. As the weeks pass, Susan develops more and more of an emotional connection to the game's hero, [[SdrawkcabName Oemor]], and longs to communicate with him for real. Meanwhile, George wants to move into his own house with his girlfriend Tracy, who also has Down syndrome, but both face opposition from their families.
----
!!''Like a Fish Understands a Tree'' contains examples of:
* NeverLearnedToRead: George can't read. To his frustration, he's still required to "read" magazines with everyone else as one of his activities at College.
* ReverseArmFold: The teachers at Susan's school always clasp their hands behind their backs when they talk to students so they can't be accused of touching them.
* SleepsWithBothEyesOpen: Susan falls asleep with her eyes open in class. She's usually awakened by the bell, too late to understand what the homework assignment is. When she first arrived at her new school she would ask the other kids, but now they don't want to talk to her.
----

Top