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Gary Schmidt's Trouble Character Analysis

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Imagine having a perfect life without trouble and then all of the sudden your whole life shatters in one freak accident. This is how Henry Smith felt in the book Trouble. Henry’s father always said “If you build your house far away from trouble, trouble will never find you.” Everything was working in his life he went to a great school, had some good friends, had a good relationship with his family, and had a nice house. That was until one night when Henry’s older brother Franklin got hit by a car on his usual 5 mile run. In Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble, Henry has to grow as a young man. With his brother dying in a brutal car accident, finding out the truth about his brother, and having to go on an adventure with his brothers alleged murderer. …show more content…

This is when they were arguing with the fisherman in the forest. The fisherman were mad at Chay and wanted to beat him up and maybe even kill him. “Henry reached out for one of the branches, a thick one, burning at one end. He stood. He drew his arm back” (264). When the annoying fishermen tried to hurt Chay, Henry jumped in and saved him. Henry just could've let them beat up Chay but he had Chays back. I think Henry realized for a split second that it wasn’t really Chay’s fault that his brother died it was just an accident and it wasn’t worth Chay’s life. Henry got a stick out of the fire and threw it at the one of the fishermen. Next, Chay swam in the middle of the lake and tried drowning himself in the lake on the voyage to Mount Katahdin. “Chay. Who suddenly in the darkness through a tired and dripping hang out of the water and over the side of the canoe. His cold fingers grasped it, and almost let go-until Henry grabbed his wrist” (215). Henry then saves the life of drowning Chay in the middle of a lake. He could've just let that man who killed his brother die in the lake and pretend he didn't see anything but he decided it was the right thing to do and he saved Chay’s life. He pulled Chay on board the boat. Henry grew as a character immensely in these scenes; he truly forgave Chay for what he did to his family and probably saved Chay’s life in both

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After he did die Henry embarked on the journey but his friend and his dog tagged along. To start the adventure they needed a

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At the beginning of the story, Henry is a naive young soldier who finds his worth in how others treat him. As he entered the army he “...basked in the smiles of the girls and was patted and complimented by old men, [and] he had felt growing within him the strength to do mighty deeds of arms” (6). Henry’s definition of bravery is strictly based on the praise he gets from others for his own actions. He has no sense of true courage or integrity that comes from within. After his first few battles,one in which he was forced to fight and the other in which he ran, Henry battles with his own internal demons.

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He observes, interacts, learns, and grows from those select people to develop his personality. Henry’s evolving relationships with his most loved friend Keiko, his father Mr. Lee, and his son Marty, shape him into the noticeably different character he is at the end of the novel. The character that arguably impacted

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In the beginning of the story Henrys doubt and struggle to find courage seriously affects his faith in himself. He joined the army because he was drawn to the glory of military conflict; considering war a sort of accessory. In the book it states, “He had read of marches, sieges, conflicts, and he had longed to see it all.

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Although Henry looked up to his father and wanted to change many things his father did while parenting, he still loved and cared for his father, especially when he had a stroke and Henry saw Him dying. Even though he kept the letters, Henry sent them out to Keiko to protect Henry in a way Henry could not quite understand. In addition to Henry and his father's relationship. Henry thought that culturally he was supposed not to have a close relationship with his son just like he did with his father.

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Henry was done with all the begging for the British and all the lies that they have given to their citizens, saying that the British are their friends. But in reality the British ministry are not friends, allies, or companions with the colonies. They just want to take over. “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne….(Para.3, lines 48-50).” What Henry tries to explain is that they tried everything and have no other choice.

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He realizes that not all death row prisoners are vicious and evil and starts to think in a new light. The reader feels empathy for Henry and can also imagine themselves in Stevenson's shoes. Many people build these stereotypes without realizing and these preconceived notions are almost always incorrect or off in some aspect. Henry is a person who did a terrible thing but he is just as human as anyone else. Just as human as Stevenson and just as human as the reader.

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and he saw the rebellions dropping the cleared on side of the hill and they were moving up and started to take over the battle. Henry sht like a mad man every one of his shots were hitting a

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Another scene shows him suffering through a meaningless retirement dinner along with his wife. His wife, Helen tries cheering him up by surprising him with breakfast in the in his 35 foot Winnebago Adventurer that they bought together to use in his retirement, but he seems least interested. It clearly showed that he is the kind of man lacking intellectual curiosity, evading family conflicts and defining himself by work only. Schmidt is left completely displaced, living a life without a meaning or purpose.

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The purpose of my essay is to explore how different social backgrounds and the social norms that follow affect the personality of two fictive characters and encourage them to break out of their station to find an identity. The protagonists Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye and Tambudzai in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions are both victims of social norms. Therefore, the foundation of this essay was to analyze the character’s social background, which has influenced their personalities, behavior and aspirations, and consequently their opposing actions against society. Holden Caulfield is an American adolescent during the period after the Second World War.

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Henry stood up for himself, humiliating Chaz and his cronies. In this moment Henry learned that he can conquer his biggest bullies and that words can’t knock him down. Chaz calls henry a “Jap lover” (99) because Henry looks like he is Japanese and has befriended a Japanese girl. Henry decides that he has had enough

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