Mr. Bramage brought up an interesting point about the main character for WISB–James. James, it seems, no longer feels like a child, and I began to think about this. It’s true, James is no longer a child in any sense of the word. Children are essentially ‘innocent’. They generally know what death is, but at the same time have no concept of it. Perhaps they have seen a loved one die, or heard about it, but in the mind of a child–at least from my childhood–the idea of ‘death’ doesn’t really sink in.Understanding life and death is, in my opinion, something that comes with age.
So in a way, James has to grow up. He has to accept ‘adulthood’ sooner because his innocence has been torn away from him. This is all part of the character’s journey. All character’s face a struggle; this is simply his struggle. I like to think, however, that James still remains a child at heart. Much of his reactions, at least from my viewpoint, seem on that childish level–and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. But his emotions are on a more child-like level, and his reactions within his mind and with himself I like to think are still at that level. It also is interesting to think that James is 12–as of right now–which is an age of great changes anyway.
But, I suppose that all depends on how you look at things. This is all from my point of view as a child. I can’t say that all children react the same. That would be a tremendously unfounded assertion.
So has anyone else had a character that quickly changed due to some sort of stress? Leave a comment, tell me about it!
