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Eddie's Brilliant

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In this essay, I aim to look at the similarities and differences between Shuggie and Eddie from the story of 'Brilliant'.

I will look first at the characteristics of Shuggie and then move on to the characteristics of Eddie and explain the similarities and differences between the two characters.

Shuggie, the main character of this story, is proud that he is in the Govan Team. However, he accidently finds an advert in the newspaper about joining the army and immediately put it in his pocket, deciding to fill in the application form as soon as he gets back home. He states that the reason he decided to join the army is because if he joined the army he would maybe see a bit of the world and learn a trade. By learning a trade, he believes he would have a greater chance to get a decent job. This indicates that he wants to get out of his ordinary life and change himself and his future. He also states that he wants to make his mother happy by not being like his dead father, just laboring. The intensity of Shuggie wanting to change his life can also be indicated from his feeling towards Aleck. He feels jealous towards Aleck because he is a school boy, having a bright future ahead. Also, he has a feeling of respect towards Aleck, checking if he will not be at the dance because he doesn't want Aleck to get hurt, although he is a school boy which Shuggie often attacks as the Govan Team. …show more content…

Unlike Shuggie, he isn't concerned about his future and doesn't want to change what he is at the moment. This is indicated by two points. Firstly, when Shuggie tells Eddie that he is thinking of joining the army, Eddie seems to have no interest towards seeing the world. Secondly, he only has a feeling of hatred towards Aleck who has a bright future

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