The Westing Game Ellen Raskin Character Analysis

It all began on a frostbitten Halloween, when coming from the chimney of the old Westinghouse came a billow of smoke, making the whole town of Westingtown have an eerie feeling. Sixteen people, all heirs of the deceased Samuel Westing, are chosen to play in the game of chance and choice. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is an eye catching mystery novel that will create suspense, causing you to have a guessing game on who committed the murder of Sam Westing. The conflict, setting, and characters are all main parts of what make this story what it is. Also the technique of how this story was written plays a big part in how it makes you feel. This mystery novel has many ups and downs that continue to take you on a reading roller coaster.

The main conflict of the story is one that affects everyone. Samuel Westing puts 16 heirs up to the task to find out who murdered him, but no one can solve this horrendous crime, this is the main conflict of the story. This type of conflict is person versus person, where it is each heir against the other. All of the heirs have the problem and the problem is not

solved until the answer to the Westing Game is given, and completely understood. In chapter twenty-four, the answer is given but it is not understood by everyone until chapter twenty-five and twenty-six, when Turtle has a trial to explain everything she has uncovered. So, the problem is solved at the end of the book by everyone, yet explained only by Turtle.
The setting of this story is at the apartment building of Sunset Towers, where all the of the heirs lived, as they had been chosen specially by Samuel Westing himself. “Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the Lake Michigan shore five stories high. Five empty stories high.” (1) Sunset Towers was a very good place for this story to occur because it set an eerie feeling among everyone since they were all living in the same building, also the Westinghouse is only right up the hill from the apartments. The setting of this story has helped develop the conflict of this novel by making everyone stay in one building, which causes controversy between the heirs.
Throughout this the book, for all sixteen heirs, there is great characterization which adds to just how fantastic this book is. The names of the characters in this book are Turtle Wexler, Sandy McSouthers, Angela Wexler, Theo Theodorakis, Dr. Denton Deere, Berthe Crow, Shin Hoo, Jake Wexler, Madame Hoo, Grace Wexler, Christos Theodorakis, Sydelle Pulaski, Flora Baumbach, Otis Amber, Judge J.J. Ford, and Doug Hoo. As many know there are main characters and some extra ones, these are only the main characters. Characterization in a mystery novel is very important because to guess who you think the murderer, or some other criminal, is the reader needs to know each character deeply. The author did the right thing in having many characters because without them, the story would not be what it is. Some may believe that the fact Ellen Raskin had so many characters that it made the book confusing, but this is not the case. Having this many characters, Ellen Raskin was able to go in depth with this mystery. She characterized each and every character quite well and made you able to really understand everyone's personalities.
The technique in which the author gave the readers the clues to help them solve the case was creative and all together great.

As the story went own new clues were uncovered slowly but surely. This book really made you think you knew who the murderer was, but would then send you yet again in another direction. So, the technique used to give you clues was very effective in letting you solve the case on your journey through this murder. Ellen Raskin made is harder to find the clues than to understand the characters. This fact is a good thing because clues are suppose to be hidden, not right out in the open. On page 45 Shin Hoo muttered that the clues were jibberish, for they had to find out what they meant, because it would not be a real mystery if the clues were just given to them. Overall Ellen Raskin did a great job giving clues out to the reader so they could solve the

mystery.
In conclusion, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is a great mystery read, if you are one for suspense. The main conflict of this story is that no one can figure out who killed Samuel Westing, while at the setting of Sunset Towers in Westingtown. There are many characters in this book but you get close to everyone individually. Also, there is the technique of how the clues of this mystery are given, which is good and effective. In all, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is a great read and is greatly recommended.