Character Analysis In Friendswood

Lee Knowles, the protagonist in Rene Steinke’s Friendswood, starts her journey with the death of her daughter, Jess, who died from a blood disease. Taft Properties’ illegal dumping of chemicals in Rosemont is what Lee believes caused Jess’s death. Lee, unlike her husband, Jack, will not find closure until she gets answers for the atrocities done to her daughter. She will do everything in her power to get justice for those affected. This journey will lead her on a perilous path; but in Lees mind she cannot lose anything more then what she already lost. The death of Lee’s daughter, Jess, takes Lee down a self-destructing path of emotional and physical danger that causes her unresolved grief.

After the death of a child, so much in a character’s

She believes that the toxic chemicals in Banes Field resulted in the death of Jess and the high cases of cancer in her old neighborhood. Moreover, Lee has no problem breaking in to Banes Field with no protective clothing on to search for the toxic chemicals. Lee, while trying to look for the toxic chemicals in Banes Field, can here Jess call her name: “She didn’t even worry anymore about what toxic shit might do to her. It was the size of a small bathtub, she heard Jess’s voice in the sound of digging, Mom, Mom, Mom” (Steinke 72). Lee believes that the chemicals in Barnes Field is the reason why her daughter died. But she still has no problem walking through the locked gates of Barnes Field to get a sample of dirt or digging a hole in the ground the size of a tube to try to find answers. She does not wear protective gear nor does she even try to cover her body in any protective way. Furthermore, hearing ones’ dead child is a common case with those that are struggling with unresolved grief (Boyles 2). The death of Jess has caused Lee to care very little about herself which can be seen with many parents who lose children. According to Salynn Boyles many parents who lose a child go through a period where they lose their sense of hygiene. They will not sleep, eat, or worry about themselves because their focus is on their deceased child (Boyles 1). These are symptoms that Lee is going through. She does not care about her wellbeing or her life, the only thing she cares about is her daughter. She puts her life on hold to find these answers that she may never get and that can cause her health