“And I’m not lying, I heard, all around us, over the sounds of the huge machines in the room, over the sounds of Apollo 11 heading to the moon, I heard, all around us, the beating of strong wings.” (Okay for Now, page 360). The main character in the book Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, Doug, has just moved to a town in New York called Marysville. At first, Doug hates the town, but his views eventually change. Over the course of the book, Doug experiences new things and creates new relationships which cause him to seem like a completely different person than he starts out as at the beginning of the book.
At the beginning of the book, Doug has a very negative view of the world around him. He has just moved to a new town, and he hates his life there. He describes almost everything as being, “stupid” and he calls nearly every person he sees as a “chump.” Not only that, but he has an abusive dad
…show more content…
He realizes it is not such a bad place after all. Not only is he getting support from the community, but his dad is starting to act like a real parent. Doug doesn’t just realize Marysville is a great place, but he also has a more positive point of view on life. Even though there are still things wrong in his life, like Lil having cancer, he focuses on the positive things in life instead. When he knows Lil only has a one in four chance, he tells himself stats don’t matter, even though he made it seem like they were important earlier in the book. He tells her she has to be the one. Doug feels optimistic overall.
Doug develops throughout the book by getting closer to those around him and having new experiences. He develops relationships with the people in the town of Marysville. He has new experiences like seeing his brother come back injured and seeing Lil fall ill. Although Doug starts out as a pessimistic person who thinks everything is stupid, he ends up to be a helpful, optimistic, and happy