Turtle's Role In The Westing Game By Ellen Raskin

What would you do with $200 million? These 16 people get a chance to get that money. But first, these 16 characters have to figure out who killed Sam Westing, who left a will for $200 million. In The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, these 16 heirs get to live together in an apartment, and, along with many interesting instances, try to figure out who killed Westing.

In any story, the characters and setting intertwine to make an enjoyable story. The main character, Turtle, plays an important part in The Westing Game. Turtle, age 13, is very bright and is good at stock market. She is jealous of her sister, Angela, because her mother likes Angela best. Turtle had a long braid, but her braid was singed by a firework. She also finds out Westing’s secret. When Turtle grows up, she marries Theo, who writes novels.

In The Westing Game, 16

people get invited to live in an apartment, without most of them knowing each other, only to realize that each of them are supposedly heirs to the late Samuel Westing.

Once all of them get there, they read his will only to find out that in Sam’s will, he stated that to get $200 million, they have to figure out who killed Westing, for he was murdered by one of the heirs. Then, each of them get put into pairs of two, each pair getting a number of clues that end up being random words. After many days of turmoil, the heirs figure out that they have to put all of their clues together to find out who the murder is. When they put their clues together, they realize the clues make “America The Beautiful”, yet some of the words and letters are missing, forming the words Berthe Erica Crow, who is one of the heirs. Thinking that Crow killed Westing, they take her to jail. But

Turtle did not understand, so she called a trial. When the trial was over, Turtle partially lies to everyone, saying that there was not a murder, and that Sandy McSouthers is Samuel Westing, that Sandy died when the medicine he took, because of a car crash, ran out. Most of that is true, but Sandy did not die. The will said that “The estate is at the crossroads. The heir who wins the windfall will be the one who finds the Fourth. Hail to thee, oh land…”, meaning that they will find the fourth, meaning the fourth name because Westing was three known people: Sam Westing, Barney Northrup, and Sandy McSouthers (west, north and south). Turtle knows that there is a man called Mr. Eastman, also known as Sam Westing, so she goes to meet him and when she sees him, she tells him that she won the will, which she did.
Ellen Raskin based her book on a multimillionaire. When the multimillionaire died, he wasn’t specific about who inherited the money, so many people wanted the money. This is why Ellen Raskin wrote The Westing Game.
Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game has a good plot line, characters, and setting, making for, altogether, a good book.