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Good Will And Train Dreams Character Analysis

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One of the main goals for an author when writing a novella is to allow the reader to connect with the individual characters in the story meaningfully. The novellas, Good Will and Train Dreams are to two fictional stories written in different styles with different results, but both allow the reader to connect with the unfolding story through the power of empathy, and human relationship. Empathy and compassion were felt as we travel with the character (s) Bob Miller (Good Will) and Robert Grainier (Train Dreams) as they suffer life altering personal tragedy.

Jane Smiley wrote Good Will with the emphasis on allowing the reader into the thoughts of Bob Miller and we quickly start walking his world with him by the great detail provided on where he puts his value. The novella …show more content…

Curiosity however, is immediately formed as the beginning of the novella were Grainier finds himself attempting to end a chinaman's life for being accused of being a thief on his job site (ch 1 pg 1-6) The scenes that lie ahead in Train Dreams shows a image of a man who has a respect for his work in the forest and a joy in watching growth come to the communities surrounding him by roads and bridges allowing for train access be formed within the forests (ch 2 pg 11-15). I believe that while Grainier works on in the forest with the railroad he has time on his hands for reflection on his pass. The lack of knowledge of his parents and where he was from originally are a blur, he was put on a train at a very young age planting him in the great northwest (ch 3 pg 25-26) The hurt that lead to feelings of abandonment led him to not get close to anyone in particular or care about the welfare of others. As the story unfolds empathy we didn't think was possible due to the opening few lines began to come as we see visions of a poor young boy without

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