| "I Am the Cheese" | |
|---|---|
Laurel Leaf edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Robert Cormier |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel, Children's novel |
| Publisher | Pantheon Books |
| Publication date | 1977 (September 1, 1991 reprint) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 234 pp (first edition, hardback) & 214 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-394-83462-3 (first edition, hardback) & ISBN 0-440-94060-5 (paperback edition) |
| OCLC Number | 2645991 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.C81634 Iac |
I Am the Cheese is a novel written by American author Robert Cormier and first published in 1977. It is categorized as young adult literature.
Contents |
Protagonist Adam Farmer is biking from his home in the fictional town of Monument, Massachusetts (based on Cormier's home town of Leominster, Massachusetts). Interspersed with the story of his journey are memories of Adam's previous life with his parents, his love for prankster Amy Hertz, and the discovery that he is not who he seems to be. When he finally arrives at the hospital, Adam discovers that his father is dead, that he never really left the hospital, and that he makes the same bike journey daily. The people he meets on his journey are people from the hospital.
The book concludes with Brint going over Adam's case, suggesting that instead of interrogating him again, the committee should institute a policy which allows for Adam's termination. Otherwise, annual interrogation will occur until Adam "obliterates" of natural causes.
This quote is a verse from "The Farmer In The Dell", a song that Adam sings during the book:
The cheese stands alone
The cheese stands alone
Hi-ho, the merry-o
The cheese stands alone
He sings many of these songs throughout the novel. The song contains several characters, each taking someone with them when the farmer leaves, yet the cheese has nobody.
Adam believes that he is the cheese. He is alone in the world, his mother dead and his father missing, and he lives in a hospital. He thinks that he is not wanted anymore. Also, as in other works by Cormier, there is a dual meaning to the title. The words "I am the cheese" may also represent Adam's feelings of entrapment: himself being the bait used to lure his parents into their murders.
The 1975 novel I Am the Cheese began Cormier's experimentation with first-person, present tense narration. When Cormier sent the manuscript to the publisher of his previous novel, The Chocolate War, he was confused and depressed, convinced that he was alienating his new young adult audience due to the complex and ambiguous story. However, I Am the Cheese proved to be a success.
I Am the Cheese was released as a movie in 1983, directed by Robert Jiras and starring Robert MacNaughton, Hope Lange, Don Murray, Lee Richardson, Cynthia Nixon and Robert Wagner. The screenplay was written by David Lange (Hope Lange's brother) and Robert Jiras.[1]
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