Characterization Text Set

Susie Strong

Topic: Sympathetic characterization of main characters who are truly bad

Objective: Provide students with examples of characterization throughout a

novel that imparts sympathy from a reader for a truly bad character.
Students will be able to identify details about characters emotions, social
standing, social interactions, and view of the world. All of these contrasts
with the bad to the bone occupation or actions of the character. Students
will then apply similar tools to manipulate details in their own writing to pull
an emotion from their reader, no matter how juxtaposing the topic.
Yellow- sympathetic
Blue- their true nature

Reeves, Dia (2011). Slice of cherry. New York, NY: Simon Pulse.
The Cordelles claimed an empty table in the shade, the forest at their
backs. They unpacked the food theyd made, not just for themselves,
but for the other families. It was a custom to go to different tables and
take a plate of whatever looked appetizing, but the generous array of
food at their table was clearly being shunned. Fancy didnt even want
to think about what would happen when it was their turn to go table-
hopping, how the experience might drive Kit to drown some rude
person in a bowl of potato salad. Killing the old man had quieted the
sisters inner murderers, but Fancy wasnt sure how long it would last.
p. 117

Reeves has us feel sympathetic towards the girls because they

are being ignored, but the girls really want to murder those that
surround them. We see a situation that is familiar and produces a
sense of sympathy, while hearing their inner thoughts and
desired motives.
Reeves, Dia (2011). Slice of cherry. New York, NY: Simon Pulse.
Do you get hate mail?
Fancy looked up, surprised.
 So do I. I was married ten years to a child molester, and no one
believes that I didnt somehow know that he was hurting children. He
goes the crime; I get all the hate. They always take it out on the wrong
person. All the sympathy gets used up on the victims, and so theres
never any left over for innocent bystanders.
Im not innocent, said Fancy without thinking, moved by the shop
owners lurid confession. Maybe thats why they hate us. For
reminding them that innocence is just an illusion, and that if you
scratch the surface, were dark and maggoty all the way down to the
bone. Were animals, and were guilty every one of us. p. 285-286

Reeves has another character appeal to the turmoil Fancy

endures every day. Seeing another character feels sympathy for
the girl with evil intentions, but Fancy responds in an opposite
matter. We see that she finds herself guilty and believes
everyone else is. Simultaneously making us feel bad for her, yet
we see how she is bad to the bone.
Lyga, Barry (2012). I Hunt Killers. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.
His mouth was twisted in a wry grin, his eyes wide and alight with
what some people none of them in this room might mistake for an
impish glee. He carried himself with a loose swagger, as if he expected
music to strike up at any moment and he was trying to decide if he
would dance or not. He worse bright orange prison-issue pants and a
matching shirt, unbuttoned, with a clean white T-shirt underneath.
Billy shuffled in. He was shackled, hand and foot. He had roughly three
inches of play between his wrists, maybe five inches between his
ankles. A longer chain ran between the ones behind his limbs, just
short enough that he had to stoop an inch. He jangled and clanked. p.
299
We meet Billy for the first time and hear about him as a man that
is filled with joy and it shows through his mannerisms. And then
we see that he his shackled and cant even stand up straight.
This makes us feel a sense of sympathy for this man, jangling
and clanking, bent over. But, we know that he is in jail and a
serial killer, so we know we must hate him.
Lyga, Barry (2012). I Hunt Killers. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.
What did you make me do? Did you make me kill my mother?
Billy laughed. Dont you remember?
 But he didnt. He couldnt. His memory his poor, abused, fragmented
memory. He could remember Billy skinning Rusty, could remember the
quicklime lessons, could remember so much horror, but couldnt
remember so much horror, but couldnt remember the most important
think of all. He couldnt remember
--do it!
-- cut
the knife
It was Mom. I cut Mom with the knife. Billy made me.
Jazz felt the room spinning around him. This was crazy. A mistake. A
huge one. Hew as insane to have come here. Billy Dent was the master
of manipulation p. 306

Here we should really hate Jasper along with his father. We find
out that Jasper killed his mother, and witnessed his father hurting
other people and learned how to murder people. But, we feel
sympathy for him. We see that Billy is a manipulator and tortured
and abused Jasper. We also see that this was potentially against
Jaspers will, that he was made to kill his own mother, which
makes us sympathetic towards a murderer.
Teller, Jane (2010). Nothing. New York: NY, Simon & Shuster Childrens
Publishing.
Nothing matters, he announced. Ive known that for a long time. So
nothings worth doing. I just realized that. Calm and collected, he bent
down and put everything he had just taken out back into his bag. He
nodded good-bye with a disinterested look and left the classroom
without closing the door behind him.
The door smiled. It was the first time Id seen it do that
We were supposed to amount to something.
Something was the same as someone, and even if nobody ever said it
so out loud, it was hardly left unspoken, either. It was just in the air, or
in the time, or in the fence surrounding the school, or in our pillows, or
in the soft toys that after having served us so loyally had now been
unjustly discarded and left to gather dust in attics or basements. I
hadnt known. Pierre Anthons smiling door told me. I still didnt know
with my mind, but all the same I knew.
All of the sudden I was scared. Scared of Pierre Anthon.
 Scared, more scared, most scared. p. 5-6
Here we see the beginnings of Pierre disrupting the world of the
other characters. Pierre clearly doesnt care, stating nothing
matters and not even caring enough to close the door behind
him. We also see that students are now scared of him, scared of
his thoughts. But, we feel a little sympathy, or feel a connection
to him. The door smiled, and we see that maybe was Pierre was
saying isnt all wrong.

Teller, Jane (2010). Nothing. New York, NY: Simon & Shuster Childrens
Publishing.
Nothing had ever indicated that Pierre Anthon was the smartest
among us, but suddenly we all knew he was. He was onto something.
Even if none of us cared to admit it. Not to our parents, not to our
teachers, not to one another. Not even to ourselves. We didnt want to
live in the world Pierre Anthon was telling us about. We were going to
amount to something, be someone.
The smiling door wasnt going to lure us.
No, sir. No way! p. 8-9

This again shows the contradiction that Pierre created. All of

them know he is right and he is smart. But, it is a scary idea, an
idea that would have to lure them, and a life they didnt want to
be a part of. So, we see Pierre is alone in his thoughts, creating a
sense of sympathy, but we know it is a scary route, one that
others dont want to live, giving him a menacing character.

Teller, Jane (2010). Nothing. New York, NY: Simon & Shuster Childrens
Publishing.
True indeed. Pierre Anthon laughed. he who laughs last, laughs
longest! And then he laughed so loud it sounded like a whole bunch of
incisive arguments and conviction.
Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Im right!
Whether Pierre Anthon knew what he was talking about or was just
guessing, it turned out he was right.
 We never did appear on television in front of the USA and the rest of
the world, for even though we were now important and so very
significant, the hostess on the show was even more important and
even more significant. And she didnt have the time to come to Taering
and talk with us here.
That in itself was bad enough.
What was worse was that is planted inside me an unpleasant, nagging
suspicion that Pierre Anthon maybe had ahold of something: that the
meaning was relative and therefore without meaning. p. 181
Pierre is quite literally laughing at the other characters, laughing
that he knows his argument is right. We do feel that he is
justified afterwards because the narrator says explicitly that
Pierre is right. But, we also hear that is makes him feel
unpleasant and the idea keeps nagging him.
Green, John (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
She put down a book and got out of bed with a sheet wrapped around
her shoulders. For a moment, she looked concerned. She looked like
the girl I met yesterday, the girl who said I was cute and bubbled over
with energy and silliness and intelligence. And then she laughed.
Guess you went for a swim, huh? And she said it with such casual
malice that I felt that everyone had known, and I wondered why the
whole damn school agreed in advance to possibly drown Miles Halter.
But Alaska liked the Colonel, and in the confusion of the moment, I just
looked at her blankly, unsure of what to ask.
Give me a break, she said. Come on. You know what? There are
people with real problems. Ive got real problems. Mommy aint here,
so buck up, big guy. p. 27

We are reminded that Alaska has a sweet side to her, and has a
nice side. But, then we see how mean she can be to Pudge. She
laughs at him and speaks to him with malice, right after he
almost drowned. But, then in her nasty response, we see that
she has real problems, making us wonder what they are and if
they make her be rough towards others.

Green, John (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
She sat down on the bed. Do you always sleep in your clothes?
Yup.
 Funny, she said. You werent wearing much last night. I just glared
at her.
Cmon, Pudge. Im teasing. You shave to be tough here. I didnt know
how bad it was and Im sorry, and theyll regret it but you have to
be tough. And then she left. That was all she had to say on the
subject. Shes cute, I thought, but you dont need to like a girl who
treats you like youre ten: Youve already got a damn mom. p. 34
Again, Alaska is being rude to Pudge. She is poking fun at him
and does not have a long conversation with him. Leaving him
feeling as though she is condescending towards him. But, we see
that she does apologize, although briefly, and he still feels some
sort of affection towards her, leaving that door open toward
sympathy or a good feeling toward Alaska.

Rosoff, Meg (2004). How I Live Now. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.
The first thing that happened wasnt our fault. That was a bomb that
went off in the middle of a big train station in London the day after
Aunt Penn went to Oslo and something like seven or seventy thousand
people got killed.
This obviously went over very badly with the populace at large and was
pretty scary etc. but to be honest it didnt seem to have that much to
do with us way off in the country. How it did affect us was it made
them close all the airports, which meant no one could get home for the
foreseeable future, namely Aunt Penn. None of us dared to say that
having no parents at all was pretty cool, but you didnt have to be a
mind reader to figure it out. Basically we couldnt believe our luck, and
for a little while it felt like we were on some big train rolling down a hill,
and all we cared about was how great it felt to be going fast. p. 24
This one is a little different because we are seeing a really bad
situation as something that isnt so bad. She is describing an
attack that killed a lot of people. But, she doesnt even pay
enough attention to it to know the number, or close to it, of how
many people were killed. She also uses the word etc. to explain
the tragedy it caused. She then goes on to talk about how much
fun they were having. Which makes us read this paragraph in a
light tone, without much attention to this horrible tragedy.
Instead we focus on what this meant for them, living alone, far
away in the country.