Chapters 1 + 2: Characterization

Characterization of Jonas and how he would develop:

I read the first two chapters of the book, so I didn’t get Jonas’ complete character until now. But I will summarize how he acts and feels in these chapters and try to guess how his character will develop.

So at first I have to mention that Jonas is twelve years, which, so I would say, causes his first confusion about how he thinks he feel. The reader gets this to know in the very first sentences. A special thing what could be mentioned at this poinst, is that the author uses a third-person narrator, instead of writing in a first-person narrator. This creates a distance between the reader and the main-character Jonas, but has the advantage of giving an overview over all the persons and different characters.

Now back to the story and Jonas’ character. Instead of clearing his thoughts and feelings at the beginning, Jonas tells something about his past and one of his friends, Asher. The narrator compares Asher and Jonas and explains to the reader that Jonas is a person who deals carefully with words. In contrast to this stands Asher, who loves to talk and makes jokes the whole day.

At the end of this first part of the book, he finds out what he really feels and the daily talk about the day with his family begins.

I was surprised when I read the following like “apprehensive”, the family begins a discussion about what will happen to Jonas. He will become a Twelve in December and is worried about this. Later, in the second chapter, the reader gets to know, Jonas will find out what his employment will be. I guess he’s a sensitive boy, who maybe is worried fast.

I think this will change later on. He will be stronger, more self-confident and is pleased with himself. Because the book deals with jobs by now, I would say his work later will become important. So he has to be poised and a kind of convincingly and I guess this character trait will develop in the book later.