Friendship

Friendship is the central theme of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus that ties all the other themes together and creates the backbone of the novel. Struggling with their disabilities, neither Aven nor Connor would find the strength to believe in themselves and achieve a state of self-acceptance. Being different imposes a lot of difficulties on the life of a young child, and often causes them self isolate and avoid making friends. This negative feedback loop has the potential to create a life of depression and self-doubt. Aven, Connor, and Zion all struggle with feelings of inadequacies deriving from their disabilities, a fact that is formative in their circle of friendships and is the initial ground of their connection. Each character begins the book believing that no one will accept them because of their disability. “I only wished I could solve the problem of...