Art Of Racing In The Rain Character Analysis Essay

Living things have many different emotions, and because of that, they can react to the same situation in myriad ways. Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain follows a family of three and their beloved dog on an adventure that involves love, grief, happiness, and death. Enzo is adopted by Denny when he is just a puppy, and observes as Denny’s family grows, along with his bliss. Nevertheless, this does not last when it is discovered that Denny’s wife, Eve has cancer and she soon after dies. Because of Eve’s death and some of the many other events in the characters’ lives, the characters in The Art of Racing in the Rain are all realistic and have many varieties of traits.

Enzo is a mixed-breed lab who was born to an abusive farmer and rescued

by Denny at a very young age. Although Enzo’s life is rough at the start, he enjoys his time with Denny. Despite the fact that Enzo cannot talk, he is an extremely good listener. He analyzes everything that happens in his life and comes to logical conclusions about them. Enzo is selfless and puts Denny, Eve, and Zoë’s needs in front of his. Enzo’s character is realistic because, although he is a dog comprehending and evaluating full situations, he is smart and eager to please, just like many dogs stereotypically are.
Denny is a race car driver who has been through a lot in his life.

Denny has had some good moments, like when he adopts Enzo, gets married, and his daughter is born. But on the other hand, Denny has had some bad moments. Some of Denny’s worse occasions include when his wife Eve dies, his in-laws sue him for custody of his daughter, and he is wrongfully accused as a rapist. Because of all of these profoundly different situations, Denny has experienced many different emotions. When Denny met Eve, he quickly fell in love and took extremely good care of her. This is especially true when Eve gets sick and Denny stays with her until her death. Denny is also profoundly calm. He displays this when his in-laws, or, as Enzo calls them, “the twins”, sue him for custody of his daughter and wrongfully accuse him as a rapist. He remains composed and continues to treat his late wife’s parents with respect. Although Denny has positive traits, he also has negative ones. One of Denny’s negative traits is how he approaches his grief. When Eve dies, he shuts out his friends and becomes noticeably shaky and depressed. Even though Denny is not perfect, Denny’s character is realistic because he is very dynamic and treats most situations in a practical

way.
Eve is Denny’s wife who, unfortunately, dies from brain cancer. Enzo sensed Eve’s condition before her symptoms began, but when they started to surface Eve refused to go to the doctor’s. When Eve falls and hits her head, Denny forces her to go to the hospital, and she is diagnosed. Eve is scared, which causes her not to go to the doctor’s earlier. She knows that she has a problem, but she refuses to get help. However, Eve is brave. She fights her disease for as long as she can and most of the time seems happy, especially when her daughter Zoë is around. Even though Eve is brave, she is also scared. On her first night home, she has Enzo stay with her because she is terrified that she will die in her sleep. Eve is a realistic character since she is not flawless and she represents that a sickness, like cancer, can be lethal and destroy lives.
Zoë is Eve and Denny’s daughter. Zoë loves her family and her dog, Enzo, who she spends much of her time playing with.