Personal Growth In I Am The Messenger

A major theme in Markus Zusak’s novel I am The Messenger is personal growth. At the beginning of the novel, Ed Kennedy does not seem like your everyday character in a novel. He does not seem like the person to amount to anything. Ed is a nineteen-year-old cab driver (underage) who loves playing cards with his three best friends, Marv, Ritchie, and Audrey, whom he has been hopelessly in love with for a long time, with little success. Because of the place, Ed is currently in, he feels that his life does not mean anything. Nonetheless, after Ed is picked to deliver “messages”, he is required to help and make a difference in his town. His participation ends up being an adventure to his own personal growth. Ed changes the lives of others but also learns that his life also has value and prospect. This theme is conveyed through characterisation, developing relationships and allegory.

Through the events of the novel, Zusak uses characterisation to demonstrate how Ed has changed. At the beginning of the novel, Ed describes himself as having “no real career. No respect in the community. Nothing. I'd realized there were people everywhere achieving greatness while I was taking directions from balding businessmen.” (1.2.14). Ed was a “dead man” and denied every commendation. During Ed’s journey through each of the suits, Ed grew personally and invested his time in purposeful issues. Towards the end of the novel, Ed is asked to face a mirror and describe what he sees. Ed no longer saw a dead man, he saw a man full of life and prospect. Ed accepted recognition for his works, Ed told Sophie he was “another stupid human”, but afterward when Father O'Reilly mentions he is a saint, he allows himself to hear it. Ed’s self-improvement has been communicated through