American Girls Anna Character Analysis

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In the book American Girls, by Alison Umminger, relationships has a major impact on a character’s personality. Anna, the main character, goes through multiple evolution in her personality throughout the book. This brings up an age old question, is a person’s personality derived from nature or nurture? Meaning was Anna’s new personality traits their before she had the capability to understand the events happening around her, or do the events that happen in Anna’s life shapes and molds her personality. The book points to that Anna’s personality is shaped and molded by the events in her life. These events are the relationships Anna has with others. In each relationship that Anna creates, a new person has a form of influence on her personality. This can be seen in Anna’s relationship with her mother, Delia, Doon, Jeremy, and Dex. Each of these relationship adds a new quality or characteristics trait that forms Anna’s personality. A person’s personality, their characteristics and quality, is directly related to the …show more content…

A mothers love and nurture is critical in a chides development physically and emotionally. In the book American Girls, Cora, Anna’s mother, is not this loving and nurturing mother. This fact is proven by the author, Alison Umminger, when she said, “Anna’s Mother is narcissistic and selfish.” () In spite of this, Cora’s relationship with Anna gave Anna invaluable everlasting qualities. Just as valuable everlasting diamonds are made from heat and pressure so are the qualities and characteristics forged in Anna by her mother’s short comings. The qualities that Cora have added to Anna are problem solving, how to be emotionally strong, and self-reliance. These qualities are shown in Anna when she said,” It’s not that I wasn’t sad for my mom, I was, but she took so long to start getting out of bed again that I practically had to move in with my best friend, Doon, just to get a bowl of