Most Intriguing Character In 'Toronto At Dreamer's Rock'

727 Words3 Pages

Jasmin Tomlinson
Elaine Kliem
ENG1D-23
9 March 2022 Rusty is the Most Intriguing Character
People often masquerade their feelings by keeping conversations light with humour, sar-casm, and wit, because many do not want to open up to people that they do not know. In the play Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock by Drew Hayden Taylor, Rusty represents each one of these characteristics. He relates to most of society in how no one genuinely wants to speak about how they are feeling. In the play, Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock, Rusty is the most interesting character.
Rusty’s character in the play is the most intriguing of the three boys. He is always snarky when he answers people’s questions, he typically responds …show more content…

A quote that represents this is his response to Mi-chael’s suggestion that they are alike. Rusty says, “I hate to disappoint you there, Michael, but look at the three of us. We ain’t nothing alike. What we got in common you could stuff in my underwear” (Taylor 64). At this moment, it shows that Rusty does, have things in common with the other boys, Michael and Keesic, but he is in denial about sharing personality traits with Kees-ic because his Indigenous heritage embarrassed him. Throughout the play, Rusty constantly redi-rects questions and comments to hide who he is. He often minimizes the severity of his circum-stances through indirect comments. Rusty’s inner conflict of feeling out of place is further com-plicated by his traumatic experiences and the expectations placed on him by his community and family. The following quote from the book references Rusty’s family, often being drunk and abusive. He says to Keesic,” Yeah, he has a great backhand, and I don’t mean tennis… scariest time of my life… I couldn’t fit under the bed and had to find a new place to hide…” (Taylor 62). Additionally, Rusty's character is intriguing because he is portrayed as a snarky character, yet he is also vulnerable and sympathetic in certain