Atmospheric Disturbances 6

Everything that has happened in Leo's life has only been causing him greater and greater confusion. He began questioning whether his wife was real. That led him to Buenos Aires where he began to wonder whether Rema had another husband. Whil this is happening he is still wondering about Harvey,the Royal Academy of Meterology, and their enemy, the 49 Quantum Fathers. He is having great difficulties trying to rationalize everything so he calls the number he believes to be the Royal Academy Of Meterology and, "Our "conversation" was not progressing well, and then on impulse I dropped Harvey's name-which I of course immediately regretted doing-but suddenly there was a little bit of tender piano music,I was being transferred"(Galchen 110). He is receiving more and more evidence that the Academy is real. This is hard for him to accept because he had always assumed that it was something in Harvey's head. He is slowly coming to accept things that may seem a little far-fetched. They have a conversation and he is only more disoriented afterwards. He is having a hard time dealing with this and, "Just as I was beginning to successfully forget about that phone conversation, I saw Harvey"(Galchen 168). His appearance shocks Leo initially as they catch up on what has happened to each other. Harvey seems to know that Leo's wife is a fake and offers his help in resolving his problem. This raises many questions in Leo's quest for the truth. He doesn't remember telling him that he thought Rema was a fake. However he accepts his help as they begin to try and discover the truth.
Now that he has begun to accept these things he has new fears. He is starting to fear the 49 Quantum Fathers and wonders what they're capable of. He wondered if, "The 49 had perceived the actual weaknesses in my marriage, that Rema and I had been targeted because the 49 wagered that given the attenuated state of our relationship, I actually might not notice,or respond to, the swap(Galchen 200). He is starting to believe that the Quantum Fathers had something to do with the disappearance of the real Rema. With Harvey by his side there are a lot of questions that have appeared. This book shows how much power the mind has over our actions. He believed that his wife disappeared and a fake replaced her and this led him to do a lot of things peopel would call crazy and irrational.

Atmospheric Disturbances 5

Leo has gone off to Buenos Aires to seek Rema's mother hoping to solve his problems. Rema's mother,Magda, doesn't realize that Leo is Rema's husband because Rema and her mother haven't really had contact with each other. He poses as a friend to try and discover more about Rema. He leaves to a diner when Rema calls. When he answers his inablity to lie causes him many problems. He blurts out that he is in Buenos Aires and after the call he realizes his mistake. The reaction was, "I practically ran back to Magda's home"(Galchen 92). He didn't want Rema to call her mother because it might endanger his investigation. His characteristics abd personality are capable of getting him into a lot of trouble. He likes Magda and fears that his relationship with her could be damaged if his lie was revealed. Leo has started to think that this is much more complicated than he previously thought. He thought Rema was fake but now he's wondering, "Who Rema's other "husband" was or had been"(Galchen 94). He has gone way beyond his previous beliefs. He now thinks that Rema had another husband besides him. Everything around him is just getting more confusing as he becomes more paranoid.
He tries to calm himself down after these events. However things only get worse when he gets an e-mail and, "The urgent e-mail appeared to ve from Harvey"(Galchen 98). Harvey has been gone for a while now. His sudden contact with Leo is very confusing to him. He is not quite sure what Harvey is talking about at all. All the things that have happened to him is only making him more wary of his surroundings. This can lead him to believe he has more problems than he actually does.

Atmospheric Disturbances 4

After everything that has happened, he is still not closer to the truth he is seeking. He is looking but he is not actually getting anywhere. After his research in the library he is still lost. This is when suddenly, "I knew with the most certainty what to do next"(Galchen 60). He decides to go to Buenos Aires to see if the place where Rema grew up could help him. Even though he is a very logical person he seems to come to a lot of conclusions in his life off of his feelings. He likes to use a logical process to seek his answers but that is not how he usually reaches a decision. He feels that he can't tell the fake Rema the truth about his trip to Buenos Aires. He makes an excuse by saying, "something had changed and I just needed to get away"(Galchen 61). This is obviously not a good reason but he doesn't like lying. Therefore he is trying to keep it vague so he can avoid lying. Once he sets his mind to something he will do anything to try and achieve it.

When he is leaving he remembers when he and Rema first met. He remembers thinking, "Normally people's conflation of psychoanalysis with psychiatry irritates me profoundly..but when Rema conflated the two,I was not irritated"(Galchen 66). When she does something that he dislikes, he isn't irritated because he is in love with her. Her cares deeply for her and that is why he feels that finding Rema is so important.

Atmospheric Disturbances 3

Leo is currently still questioning whether Rema is really Rema. That was giving him enough trouble but after the "Royal Academy of Meteorology" contacted him he wasn't sure of what to believe. However when he insists Rema said something and she denies it, he says , " "You said," I said again,"Anatole." Her eyes were watering. "No, I didn't"(Galchen 47). Leo is certain that Rema said "Anatole" but she denies it, claiming she only asked how he was feeling. This is only adding to his confusion. He doesn't feel like any of his life is real and he is starting to look for problems that aren't there. Everything that has happened to him has slowly worn him down. He is fatigued and he is unable to comprehend what is happening. When he is walking the dog, "I caught sight of an adorable dog leading an old man whose coat was buttoned wrong. Twice now. I needed to look at myself on purpose,I resolved.Not by accident. I readjusted the buttons on my coat"(Galchen 51). He looked at a window and for a second he didn't recognize the reflection. The situation has caused his physical appearance to become sloppy. He is shocked by a reflection of himself and what he has become.
However Leo is still a logical person and he has tried to maintain as much reason as possible. When he is unable to rest he walks to the library and tries to unravel the mysteries in his life. When he decides on a process to choose what subject to research he tells himself, "I had not,however,abandoned my faith in experimental controls"(Galchen 55). He has done everything in his life logically and even during this time of turmoil, he is trying to do things
reasonably. Logic is what he is comfortable with so he is trying to keep it close to him during this troubling time.

Atmospheric Disturbances 2

Leo is a psychiatrist and one of his patients particularly interests him. His name is Harvey, and he seems to believe that he works for the "Royal Academy of Meteorology". He disappears for a couple days and reappears claiming he was doing an assignment by the academy. Leo obviously thinks Harvey is crazy but he gets a call saying, "I'm calling from the Royal Academy of Meteorology; we'd like to invite you to become a fellow"(Galchen 39). This confuses him because he didn't think the academy was real. He believed it was just Harvey's imagination. This plus the fact that he thinks his wife was replaced with an identical copy is causing him to question a lot of things in his life. When Leo is confused or afraid of something he attempts to reassure himself. When Leo is walking home he thinks to himself, "I comforted myself with the likelihood that I would soon see Rema"(Galchen 35). He is trying to tell himself that this was just his imagination and that when he got home Rema would be back. He doesn't seem to actually do anything about his worries most of the time.
As a child, Leo had some very interesting character traits. On the rare occasion that he lies he feels extremely uncomfortable afterwards. When he was with his mom, "In order to avoid saying thank you, upon prompting,for things I wasn't truly thankful for,I would bury my face in my mother's skirt"(Galchen 22). Perhaps this trait is what makes him a psychiatrist. Whenever he lies he feels as if a burden is placed upon him and feels the need to confess the truth. No matter what the reason, Leo is very uncomfortable with lying.

Atmospheric Disturbances 1

One night when Leo's wife,Rema, comes home he is certain that this woman is a fake. He believes that that is not the real Rema. He doesn't have any proof but he trusts his own decision . He tells himself that the imposter is the, "Same everything, but it wasn't Rema. It was just a feeling, that's how I knew"(Galchen 3). He is quite sure of himself although nothing else seems to indicate any problems. He is the kind of person that will believe his ideas even though everybody else is saying otherwise. He wondered, "if he might have knowledge of the circumstances behind Rema's absence,behind her replacement,but I could divinve-I just could-that there was nothing-nothing at all-to be learned from that man"(Galchen 8). Once again he is going on his own intuition and thoughts. He is sure that this man knows nothing about Rema's supposed disappearance from just a feeling he gets.
He cares about his wife a lot. He likes seeing her happy and likes to entertain her with details from his job. When someone seeks him out he thinks to himself, "it pleased me,the thought of telling Rema that a woman had sought me out after reading an article of mine"(Galchen 12). How is seen by his wife is very important to him. He enjoys it when Rema is impressed with something he did. The respect of his wife is highly valued and he feels he has to do things to keep her respect and to ensure she looks up to him. He is even willing to do something he doesn't particularly like if he thinks that it will impress Rema.

Hope's Boy 6

Andy continutes living in his foster home and although it is better than the facility, it is not that great. He doesn't have the attention that a child needs to thrive. He is socially excluded in the household and his situation at school isn't much better. On the rare occasion that somebody tries to make friends with him, his embarrasment over his situation causes him to push people away. There were people that gave up but, "For the few that persisted, I endured their advances but held to my restrictions. If classmates insisted on stopping by the house, I did my best to meet them on the sidewalk or at the front door"(Bridge 240). He doesn't want people to know that he is living in a foster home. He is afraid that having friends over would reveal that so he kept to himself. He avoided things like pep rallies and ate lunch by himself. When a classmate,David, asks him to go skiing, "There was something in the threat of closeness that was more than I could sustain. In the moment that it arrived, even the offer itself was too much"(Bridge 241). He is willing to do anything to prevent people from knowing his past. He pushes everybody away because he is scared that the truth might make a him an outcast. He turns down David's offer and says some very hurtful things to him in an effort to push him away. When he sees David in the hallway all he can do is remember the chance at friendship he offered him.
Andy's difficult childhood has made Andy different from other kids his age. He has dealt with a lot more hardship than many other people his age. When he runs for Student Body President he, "Knew not to rely on popularity or friends lobbying on my behalf. Instead, I chose the quality that childhood had taught me best:endurance"(Bridge 242). His difficult childhood forced him to take care of himself at a very young age. Peopel usually remember their childhood as fun times that they enjoyed but Andy remembers it as something that taught him how to endure life's hardships. In a letter he wrote to an admissions officer, "If I could show you MacLaren Hall or the house where I have grown up, you would see that angels and saviors are rare. Then, like me, you would know to stop looking for them, too"(247). His perspective of life is not very uplifting and this is obviously caused by his childhood. He has seen the world at a different angle and his experiences have affected him greatly. He only relies on himself to get what he wants and refuses help from others because he fears they will let him down.