Consequently, the lack of love in Peter Braxton's every day life, affects him significantly since it causes him to live a troubled life, a life that kids at his age should never even dream of.
On the other hand the presence of love in Peter's life makes him gain knowledge, open up to life and have fun, and to start showing affection. Along with the affection that Peter gets from his friends, he also gains the confidence he did not have before, the confidence that he needs in order to learn. While spending time at the home in the forest Peter "learned to tell a good piece of wood from a piece that would split when only half cared. He learned how to coax the birds to the feeding station and he learned how to clean and fillet rock cod" (97). Before Peter was showed affection he thought he had some sort of a learning disability, but when his new friends showed him love, he gained confidence and willingly learned all of these things without any problem at all. Also, once Peter meets the Old Man and He Who Would Sing, who take Peter in and treat him as their son, he discovers that life can be enjoyable. Peter starts going out on walks without being afraid anymore, he goes out into town and has fun, and he finds happiness in the simple things in life such as swimming and picnics. In addition, Peter Braxton learns how to show his feelings towards others once he experiences what it is like to be loved. When Peter saw Anna he hugged her, something that he wanted to do for a long time but never could before because he was afraid, and did not know exactly how to go about it, and he also expresses his sadness by crying, when he is taken away from the Old Man and He Who Would Sing. It is obvious that something as simple as the presence of love was able to change Peter from the robot like creature he was, into a happy human being.
Once the love that was given to Peter is taken away from him, Peter becomes angry, shows only his negative emotions, and goes into a state of depression.
