Hello everyone, it looks like this is my final blog post of the year. Today I will be blogging about characterization and good story telling found in the book I am currently reading. As of now I am on page 90 of "Firefly Lane"by Kristin Hannah.
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Have you ever heard of the term "Ugly Duck" in a sentence, or maybe "Beautiful Swan"? Whether it has been used to actually describe a duck or swan, or used as a metaphorical term to stereotype someone, it is usually a stereotype. A stereotype that when mixed together would probably act like vinegar and baking soda when combined. What happens next?
BOOM. You are left with debris everywhere, and a mess to clean up.
Not fun.
Yet, in the book "Firefly Lane" (a story about an unlikely friendship between two girls) explores the idea of these two stereotypes being friends. Though at first it might sound rediculous or super cheesy, Hannah writes these characters well enough that it makes you believe in their friendship and that despite their differences, they can be friends. This is truly heartwarming, especially for the way she characterizes the two girls; Kate and Tully.
Allow me to show you some amazing characterization by this author;
- Tully
- "By eighth grade, she was one of the most popular girls in junior high, and it helped having all those friends. When she was busy enough, she didn't think about the woman who didn't want her. On rare days she still felt...not quite lonely...but something. Adrift, maybe. As if all the people she hung around with were place-holders." (Hannah, 14)
- Kate
- "The thought of going to school made her sick. Eighth grade blew chips as far as she was concerned; 1974 had turned out to be a totally sucky year, a social desert. Thank God there was only a month left of school. Not that summer promised to be any better.------ So now books were her only friends. She'd read Lord of the Rings so often she could recite whole scenes by memory. It was not a skill that aided one in becoming popular." (Hannah, 15)
Now that I have served you a bit of characterzation of these two, do you think you could identify who fits which stereotype?
But what makes the characterization so great is that it takes two girls from completely different lives and with different personalities and puts them together. Making them both friends for very personal reasons, and forming a bond that would seem unlikely to some. The book makes you feel like you know these characters and their friendship makes you reflect on your own as well as want to read on. But what makes it worth reading is that is believable while also hard to believe. And, that it also makes you realize how they fill up the emptiness in each others life. This makes the books story really enjoyable, and it is fun to get to know these characters as the slowly grow up.
What we can take from this book, is that a book story can mean nothing without having good characters that interact in special ways. This author excels at doing that;
" 'Are you okay? Really?'
To Tully's complete horror, she started to cry.
Kate stood there for a moment, staring at her from behind those dork-o-rama glasses. Then, without saying anything, she hugged Tully.
Tully flinched at the contact; it was foreign and unexpected. She started to pull away, but found that she couldn't move. She couldn't remember the last time that someone had held her like this, and suddenly she was clinging to this weirdo girl, afraid to let go, afraid that without Kate, she'd float away like the
S.S. Minnow and be lost at sea." (Hannah, 35)
In this way, the author wants us the characters to get even closer and in making this connection it makes it feel believable. But could it really happen? Well, what is the point in trying stereotype something and ask ourselves if a fictional relationship is believable when we can go and try to experience it for ourselves. Who knows, maybe you will find your next friendship to be a relationship like Tully and Kate's.
For those of you who might want another persons opinion here is a video review/reaction to "Firefly Lane", beware of spoilers!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EexoA_CfrI
