Character Analysis: The Girl Who Fell From The Sky

Summer Reading Essay Characterization Candace Myers

In Heidi Durrow’s book, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, she creates an eye opening story about the effects of one’s race and how they deal with society. Rachel, the protagonist of the story, is deeply impacted by her mixed race and society’s standards for her. Throughout the book she struggles with her identity, the loss of her family, and the ups and downs of life. No matter what happens to her, she always finds a way to survive, whether it’s jumping from a building or dealing with her fellow classmates. One thing anyone can learn from this story, is that even though it is difficult conforming with society and meeting society’s principles for us, one can overcome the standards set for all of us.

When Rachel first arrives in Portland, she is a shy, insecure, and is a lonely

girl. She has lost her family, she is in a new home, and she is primarily around black people, which she is not used to. On page 14, she says “I open the blue bottle. Mad goes in there too.” From this we see her inability to express her feelings and instead keeps them held up inside. This develops the overall theme of the story, because it shows that she is too afraid to show her true identity. Rachel is influenced by the theme because when this quote is said, her white friend Tracy, says that Rachel hasn’t been around the world, because she assumes that because of Rachels race, that she can’t travel or wouldn’t travel. This makes Rachel feel like it’s atypical to travel and be black, which makes her feel like she doesn’t belong. When Rachel starts attending school, she quickly realizes that people treat her much differently because is biracial. The white people see her as black and the black people see her as white. When people see her this way, she feels like she has to conform to a certain standard in order to belong with her classmates. On page 28, she says “ And most of the time I try not to let the black girls like Tamika see me talk to Tracy, because Tracy is a white girl. And the way they say that-white girl- it feels like a dangerous thing to be.” This shows that Rachel is struggling to fit in with the black people and doesn’t want to be associated with white people. This develops the theme, because Rachel is trying to conform with society and not associate herself with those who are white in order to belong to society. The theme influences Rachel in this part of the book, because it causes her to feel alienated and shows her insecurities about herself.

As Rachel becomes adjusted to her new settings, she becomes more outgoing, but she still lacks some confidence.

When Drew comes over, she meets his daughter Lakeisha. When the two meet, Rachel says on page 117 “ I wonder how she seems so brave. There is no part of her that she hides.” The theme impacts Rachel, because she wishes she had better confidence because of the pressures of society. This also develops the theme, because of Lakeisha’s bravery, Rachel feels like she is too quiet and needs to put herself out there, which shows the impact that society has on us. When Rachel is in high school her classmates still see her as white which upsets her. On page 148 she says “ They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to what I was. I want to be nothing.” The theme impacts Rachel’s development in this part of the story, because Rachel feels like she is supposed be one race, but because of her mixed race, she isn’t treated the same as the black girls. Rachel’s characterization develops the theme, because of society’s labels for us, it can affect our day to day lives and can determine the way we are

treated.

In part two, Rachel becomes outgoing and she doesn’t let society's standards rule her life. She becomes friends with Brick and a boy who works at the community center named Jesse. They start to hang out with each other and Rachel starts to be a lot happier. On page 202 she says “ I forget that what you are-being black or white- matters.” This helps develop the theme because of Rachel finally being true to herself, it shows that one can overcome the pressures of society and can create an identity for themselves. The theme impacts the development of Rachel, because she has been judged by her race for so many years, it causes her to want to do the things that she’s been afraid to do for so long for fear of being judged. One night she gets into an argument with Grandma and in page 237 she says “ I can feel the blue bottle shatter inside me. You want me to be special and you want me to be yours, I yell. But I can’t be both.” This impacts the theme because she can’t take the pressure of society anymore and is tired of keeping her feelings inside. The theme develops Rachel in this part of the book, because it causes her to become angry and it also liberates her from all of the bad feelings she has had.

For Rachel, life was tough when her society automatically created the rules and standards for her. But after the pressures of her society became too much, she realized that she shouldn’t let society define her. The overall lesson learned from her, is that we should always stay true to ourselves, even when others principles try to stop you. She also taught us, that even when life throws obstacles at you, you can also rise back up. Do not let others rule over you; instead let you rule over you. For if you let others reign over you, you will never live until you see that you are more than what society’s standards for you are.