johnny believes the influence of childhood trauma on the lives of adults has been wildly overrated by a generation that listened to too many moody blues records in its formative years , but something like this must be different ; it will be a long time , johnny thinks , before the chief behavioral factor in ralph carver 's life ceases to be the sight of his father lying dead on the lawn and his mother kneeling beside him in the rain , hands locked beneath his neck , screaming his daddy 's name over and over , as if she could wake him up .