Character Analysis Of Melba Pattillo

Basic Character Write-up Melba Melba Pattillo Beals was an African American teenager during the integration of Little Rock Central High. Due to the fact that she is the main character and the story is told in first person, she is a round character. This quote shows personal conflict, meaning that she has many personality traits that commonly challenge each other: “When had I planned on telling them? Why did I sign my name on the paper saying I lived near Central and wanted to go, without asking their permission? Did I consider that my decision might endanger my family?” (Pattillo 22). Melba questions her previous decisions, which she wouldn’t do if she was a flat character with few characteristics. Melba is emotionally contained in public, but at home she lets her true feelings show. “At one point, they started passing notes back and forth. When one was passed to me, I opened it. ‘****** go home,’ it read. I looked at it without emotion, folded it neatly, and put it aside” (Pattillo 103). In this quote, Melba shows great self control. She demonstrates her maturity and ability to handle adversity properly. When Melba is at home, she is quick to express

She always wants Melba to be a better person, so the way she does that is by showing her tough lessons. “That’s when I knew I should go talk to Grandma India. I told her about my wish to be dead. ‘Good idea,’ she said. She didn’t even look up at me as though she were alarmed after I whimpered out my confession. Instead, she continued dusting the dining room table. My feelings were hurt. And then she looked me in the eye and said it again” (Pattillo 160). Melba’s grandmother goes on to create headlines for news stories once the segregationists discovered Melba had committed suicide. This convinces Melba that dying is not a good idea, although the way Grandma India achieves this may seem a bit crooked, as suicide is not a topic to be joked