Throughout the entirety of Michael Without Apology, Michael has been Healing From Trauma Via Artistic Creation. In Parts 8 and 9, he finally confronts the source of his childhood trauma in order to move beyond it. The scenes where Michael visits with Thomas in the car and with Livie and Miles in the restaurant act as the narrative climax. The entirety of Michael’s story has been leading up to these encounters. Until Michael comes face-to-face with the people who caused him so much pain as a child, he cannot fully heal.

Michael doesn’t receive the resolution he wants from these visits, but he does find answers to some of his questions. The way he reflects on his time with Thomas in Chapter 21 provides insight into how confronting one’s pain can provide clarity:

I always pictured him racked with guilt about the accident, and I was ready to let him off the hook. Turns out he let himself off the hook years ago […] But still, it helped me, because the whole situation just looked so different to me after I talked to him. My whole past just looked different. It got me thinking that maybe I should talk to my birth parents and see how that changes the past (219).

Michael doesn’t receive the brotherly love he might have wanted from Thomas, as Thomas shows no remorse over the accident and therefore doesn’t require Michael’s grace or forgiveness. However, Thomas does offer Michael perspective on who his birth parents really are and the quality of the upbringing they were giving him and Thomas. This one brief interaction with his biological brother years after the accident inspires Michael to reevaluate his origins. He finds the courage to confront his birth parents in turn. Like Thomas, Livie and Miles are unable to apologize or resolve Michael’s trauma, but they do help him understand how lucky he has been to be with the Woodbines. He thus lets go of his anger and embraces self-acceptance and healing.

In the wake of Michael’s encounters with his biological family, he finds the space to create a new life for himself. Letting go of his past pain, sorrow, and bitterness helps him see the good he does have in his life and embrace Community and Friends as a Source of Strength. One prime example is Caroline. Since Michael has been consumed by angst and anger, he has been unable to imagine a future for himself. Once he starts seeing Caroline, he rediscovers his capacity for hope. Without the burden of his past weighing on him, Michael realizes “that sometimes the only way to do something is just to do it, and the ready comes later” (234). He takes a leap of faith with Caroline. He is still grieving Madeleine, but he is ready to try new things and restart his life on his own terms. He has finally accepted the truth and beauty of who he is and now wants to share his life with someone he cares about. His relationship with Caroline in turn reignites his creative energy, and he begins to imagine and work on new films. The evolution of Michael and Caroline’s relationship acts as the descending action, leading Michael toward a happy, fulfilled ending.

The final section of the novel acts as an epilogue to Michael’s story. Part 9 is set five years in the future, with Michael in a more settled version of life. He and Caroline are married, living together, and raising a child. Michael has also created two new films and has received the Tribeca Audience Award, “honors at Sundance,” and “a LAFCA achievement award” (263). These personal and professional milestones are manifestations of Michael’s self-acceptance and growth. Time has passed, and he has settled into who he is and the life he wants to lead.