In the novel the Help by Kathryn Stockett the character Skeeter develops progressively throughout. Her relationships with Hilly and Aibileen, and her motivation are the three key elements to her development as a character. By the end of the novel Skeeter is a new person, she can no longer be manipulated by Hilly like everyone else. “It was almost four months ago that the door was sealed shut between Hilly and me, a door made of ice so thick it would take a hundred Mississippi summers to melt it.” Skeeter becomes a much stronger person and learns to stand up for herself in the end. “I follow quickly behind Hilly to the front door. She opens it and walks in like it’s her own house. ‘Hilly, I did not invite you here,’ I say grabbing her arm.” …show more content…
The middle of the book is where she begins to notice how rotten Hilly really is. “ ‘I caught her taking the milk after it expired and that’s how it starts you know, first it’s washing powder, then they work their way up to towels and coats. Before you know it, they’re taking your heirlooms, hocking them for liquor pints. God knows what else she took.’ I fight the urge to snap each of her flapping fingers in half, but I hold my tongue.” Skeeter and Aibileen also grow closer to each other in the middle of the novel, they become much more comfortable around one another. “Sometimes she’ll slip off her shoes under the table. Last time, she pulled out a pack of Montclairs and smoked right there with me in the room and that was kind of something, the casualness of it. I had one too.” Midway is also where Skeeter begins to really notice the social injustices in Jackson and writes Help to change …show more content…
Skeeter is very tall with frizzy hair while her friends all are petite with straight hair. Besides the physical attributes Skeeter is also much more modern than her very traditional friends. Skeeter finished college and doesn’t feel like she really needs a husband to make her life worthwhile while her two best friends Elizabeth and Hilly both dropped out of college as soon as they had a ring on their finger. Skeeter’s relationship with Aibileen is also very different in the beginning of the novel; it’s much more awkward and formal. “‘Should we sit?’ I point to the kitchen table. Aibileen glances at the swinging door. ‘You go head, I’m fine standing.’” Skeeter’s motivation for writing is also much different in the beginning than the end. She at first is writing Help because missus Stein tells her she needs to write about something new and something she believes in. She’s writing more to get published than to actually make a
In Crow Lake, Mary Lawson portrays a family who experience a great tragedy when Mr. and Mrs. Morrison are killed in a car accident. This tragedy changes the lifestyles of the seven years old protagonist Kate Morrison and her siblings Matt, Luke and Bo. The settings are very important in this novel. Though there are limited numbers of settings, the settings used are highly effective. Without effective use of themes in this novel, the reader would not have been able to connect with the characters and be sympathetic. Lawson uses an exceptionally high degree of literary devices to develop each character in this novel.
Many times when reading a novel, the reader connects with one of the characters and begins to sympathize with them. This could be because the reader understands what the character is going through or because we get to see things from the character’s perspective and their emotions and that in return allows a bond to form for the reader. The character that is the most intriguing for me and the one I found comparing to every book that I read during school was Stacey from the book “Ravensong” Lee Maracle. The character Stacey goes through a lot of internal battle with herself and it’s on her path to discovery that she begins to understand herself and what she’s capable of. Throughout the novel, Stacey has a few issues she tries to work through. This is emphasized through her village and in her school that is located across the bridge in white town. Stacey begins dealing with the loss of Nora, and elder in her town. And this in return begins the chain of events that Stacey begins on the path of self-discovery not only on herself but everyone around her. She begins to see things differently and clearly. Stacey is a very complex and confused character, and she begins to work through these complexities through her thoughts, statements and actions.
Throughout the book the characters experienced personal growth; they learned something that changes how they look at life. In this essay I picked a character that I feel experienced the most growth and change and discuss what caused this change to happen and what they were like before the change occurred.
By the middle of the book, Kelsey is completely aquatinted with both Ren and Kishan and her character is stronger, mentally and physically because of them. By the end of the book, Kelsey is ready to walk away and start college, which she does. Ren on the other hand, is almost completely attached to Kelsey by the middle of the book, in the end he can't stand to watch her leave. Whereas Kishan, he does not know Kelsey the way Ren does and that causes his character to undergo the most development. Kitten's character goes from being a rough, rugged, untamed tiger-man to being brought back into civilization and re-tamed. Unlike the three young characters, Anik Kadam (Mr. Kadam) does not change much, he does become a bit more caring and does look after Kelsey as if she were related to him.
Several major characters affect the protagonist. One of the major characters is Dr. Bledsoe, who is the president of the school. Dr. Bledsoe had a major effect on the main character, because the Protagonist idolizes him. "He was every thing that I hope to be," (Ellison 99), but the Dr. Bledsoe degrades him when we says "Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie" (Emerson 137) and calls him a Nigger. In addition, the Protagonist grandfather had a major effect on him.
Jessie is a young smart girl who just wants to prove herself to everyone. Evan is the popular boy who :plays to win.” Megan is one of Jessie’s friends who has a crush on Evan. The last main character is Scott, he’s the bully in the book.
There are those who say that one’s actions define them, but looks can be deceiving. “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst explores the pitfalls of letting bad motives drive actions. In “The Scarlet Ibis” the reader is introduced to the narrator and his brother whom he nicknamed Doodle. The story is based around the plot of the narrator teaching his special needs brother, Doodle, how to play with him. Doodle and the narrator accomplish many tasks that were said to be impossible. Such as Doodle learning how to walk. Later on in the story a Scarlet Ibis appears. The Scarlet Ibis then dies from exhaustion foreshadowing what will become of Doodle at the end of the story. Hurst, using the plot, characters, and symbolism support the theme of the
Leper’s quiet, peaceful demeanor shatters after experiencing war firsthand, and his subsequent loss of sanity inspires the others to finally realize that the war is far more dangerous than they had imagined. Finny’s injury allows him to self-reflect, as his reliance on others makes him understand more about life and how his natural athleticism will no longer be enough to help him succeed. Gene’s world view is similarly widened, as Finny’s dependancy allows him to care for more than just himself, and he realizes how small his problems were back in Devon thanks to experiences outside of school in the real world. By detailing us the original naivety and subsequent growth expressed by his characters, Knowles’ novel shows that in order to mature and understand the real world, one must view it from a different
First of all, Tomi and Keet are strong because in chapter 2 paragraph 31 it says ”But I was strong too, because everyday I worked at lifting a thirty-pound boulder I found in a stream to build myself up for baseball.” In chapter 9 paragraph 16 it says that Keet had wiry, muscular arms. Second, they both used to be friends with each other because in chapter 3 paragraph 27 it said “we used to be friend me and him”. Lastly, they are both trying to please their dad’s because in chapter 10 paragraph 2 it says he couldn’t let the boat stay their because he doesn’t want his family to fall apart. In chapter 44 paragraph 74 Charlie said that it doesn’t matter what Keet does as long as Mr. Wilson notices him.Those are the ways Keet and Tomi are the
In terms of voice, Stockett does stress the fact that it is not solely a racial issue, yet it is the following, or not following, of society's rules that further create impediments in having one's voice. Celia can be included in this conversation as her class limits the opportunity to get involved with the other women of Jackson despite that she married in their rank. Furthermore, Skeeter too becomes an outsider. Firstly, Skeeter is helping African Americans which is not accepted in Jackson at that time. In addition, she too has to be anonymous and cannot put her own name on her work.1 From aspects outside the racial sphere, Skeeter becomes an outcast as she does not want to conform to the traditional expectations of her sex as she focuses on her career. At the end Minny says that she has to go to New York as she “ain't got a good life here in Jackson...”2 as she has no friends, boyfriend or white community who support her.
Aibileen was the first maid to come forward to tell her story about what it's like to live in a small town of Mississippi down South. See in her mind she hates those white women because her son got taken away from her, and in her place she blames all white men and women. But toward the end skeeter put her own perspective in there she said she wanted to write what is was like for her growing up having an African American raise her for her to get fired for getting old.
A character that stands out a lot for me is Dunny’s mother. She seemed like a very kind and strong woman at the beginning of the story. She kept their neighbors preborn baby alive when the town doctor said he would die. She was committed to that baby with all her heart. Another time, Dunny took an egg from his house so he could try to learn magic tricks with it. His mother noticed it was missing, and when he would not say why he took it, she flipped out. She beat him to pieces with a whip for an hour, screaming the whole time. In my mind she went from being a kind woman to an hysterical fool of a mother. She seems as though she could not be related to this old man reflecting on his life. I think the author is showing how different children can be from their parents.
Character is one of important aspects in a story. According to Coles (2010), in fiction, all the intrinsic elements—plot, setting, theme, etc—are connected to the characters. In a longer story, such as novels, the development of characters becomes an essential matter. Characters are not only formed with the strengths that make them stands out but also the weaknesses and flaws (Sefton, 2011). They are completed by the background, belief, fears, hopes, that make the characters looks even more real, relatable, and sympathetic to readers. As the story goes by, the characters will be challenged to confront many conflicts in which usually related to their own weaknesses. Their response toward this situation will determine how they deal with their own weaknesses and how their characters develop. When the characters undergo some changes after they encounter some conflicts that means the characters have gradually develop (Sefton, 2011). The more characters attached to the readers, the better the character development will be. Hence, character development is aimed to keep the readers’ interest along the story.
The main character in this story was Laurie Kenyon, a four year old girl in the beginning of the story who eventually grows up to be a twenty-one year old woman. She has blond hair, green eyes and a fragile little body. Sarah Kenyon is present throughout the story. She is Laurie's sister and helps Laurie deal with all her problems as best she can. Bic and Opal were Laurie's abductors. Bic had a beard and his arms had a lot of curly hair. He was a very domineering person towards Opal and Laurie. Opal had long stringy hair and had a plain face. She was passive and did whatever she was told. They were con-artist who fooled everyone they met. They were mean and didn't care about anybody else but themselves. Justin Donnelly was the psychiatrist who helped Laurie with therapy and helped find the real person that was within her all along.