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Saint Monkey And Real Life: Character Analysis

Decent Essays

Townsend and Pollock surround their work with life altering decisions made by their characters resulting in either the success or failure of their own development or those around them. “Behavior-outcome relations (contingency rules) represent the individual’s assessment of the likelihood that a particular behavior will be followed by a particular outcome (Knowles, McLean 154). Throughout Saint Monkey and “Real Life,” character interactions are vital in shaping their further development as the stories progress. Audrey, Caroline, and Bobby are constantly affected by their loved ones and in some cases themselves. Saint Monkey is told from the perspective of two best friends, Audrey Martin and Caroline Wallace. Audrey and Caroline struggle …show more content…

Knowles, a psychology professor, and George F. McLean, a philosophy professor, study that: “…young children may use the actions of others to determine what standards should be expected of their behavior…once adopted children will strive to achieve certain goals…” (Knowles, McLean 155). Bobby discovers more about his character after his fight: “Even after I’d swallowed all the blood, I kept licking my hands. I tore at the skin with my teeth. I wanted more. I always wanted more” (Pollock 97). Pollock exposes Bobby’s character to be in likeness with his father, inherited from his social learning, being the supposed example for him to learn by. Townsend explores the same issue with Audrey and Caroline, also affected by their fathers. Audrey and Caroline’s friendship plummets after the death of Caroline’s mother. Audrey expresses her distress over Caroline’s withdraw: “But I can no longer see my own plainness reflected in hers, and I begin to dread that it might actually be true, that Caroline’s leaving me behind” (Townsend 35). Caroline’s withdraw from her relationship happens when Caroline says, “And my name ain’t Pookie. My mama named me Caroline.” (Townsend 33). The aftereffect of this withdraw from Audrey creates a hostility between the two that has always been existent, but never verbalized because of their profound friendship. Caroline’s hostility continues with her jealousy of Audrey, in church …show more content…

However, Townsend rotates their two personas, later in the story, where Audrey becomes more like Caroline and vice versa. Mathis also writes, “In Townsend’s hands, virtue and innocence were only a veil that needed to fall away so the girls might see themselves, and their chosen course, more clearly (Mathis NYTimes.com). Caroline’s first step into a mature-like Audrey character is stepping into the cosmetic business and forgoing her frivolous self in order to make money, “According to a manual, a lady salesperson cannot afford to be petty. She must put aside her differences for the sake of enterprise” (Townsend 199). Caroline’s established character always says what she thinks never mind the consequences, but transitioning character desires to be successful and is willing to bite her tongue in order to provide for herself and live out her dream. Audrey, on the other hand, digresses her character development. At first she wants to find love even if she is not in love, “August’s orange is my orange and his green is my green, I wrote her, and almost convinced myself that it isn’t a lie” (Townsend 248). Audrey is very adamant in her search for him that she is willing to sacrifice actually being in love in exchange for the thought of love. However, after her split from August, Audrey fell away from her ideal of love and became

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