Through Black Spruce Character Analysis

When Will came extremely close to death when he was going through Mill Town, Lightfoot McLendon coincidently came over and helped him out by assisting him off of the train tracks. Lightfoot McLendon is a very attractive and intellectual young girl from the impecunious Mill Town. Lightfoot is the object of Will's affection as a young teenager. Will was on the train tracks when the train was approaching, he laid flat on the trestle as it got closer; he survives by lying flat between the tracks so the train passes just overhead without touching him. After this the train stopped and Lightfoot comes running towards Will to help him come off the tracks safely when the train almost killed him. During all this commotion Lightfoot happened to leave her bucket of blackberries near the trestle, in an attempt to make her feel better Will invites Lightfoot, “Why’n’t we go pick some more early in the mornin’? Mama’s been astin’ me every day when am I go’n get her some blackberries.” (Burns, 83) This lie was made up just to help Lightfoot out, knowing this was very upsetting to her and her poor family. He knew Lightfoot was embarrassed that she was so upset over a few berries, so he validated her feelings. Will is a very considerate, caring young boy.

I love wearing masks. I love transforming my entire being into something completely different. Offstage I’m Culley Emborg, a likeable, friendly, normal kid, but on stage, I can be anyone. Over the years, I have participated in ten musicals and I’ve played a variety of characters ranging from one of the oblivious Who-people in a Dr. Suess-inspired production to a spiteful doll in “Mary Poppins” to a crippled nerd in “13: The Musical.” The best character I’ve played, however, is the stupid yet loveable Leaf Coneybear from “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” As Leaf I wore the most wacky, unique outfit to ever grace my body: a pink bike helmet intended for little girls, knee pads decorated with Dora the Explorer stickers, a collared, tie-dye shirt, and even a long polkadot cape embroidered with a purple “L.” To this day that cape hangs on my bedroom wall and every time I happen to glance at it I reminisce about the odd boy it once belonged to.

Jim was the naughty one out of them, so Will was there for him a lot. Jim got himself into trouble by going into the Mirror Maze, and Will found him and got him out of it safely. Jim knew he needed Will in his life for protection: “You’re always going to be around, aren’t you, Will? To protect me?” (p.68). Even Jim, who acted like he was fine on his own, still needed Will there to protect him, because you always need friends in your life to love and care about you. Jim also snuck out of his house to go to Miss Foley’s house to see Robert without Will. Will luckily saw Jim sneak out because if Will wouldn’t have been with Jim, Jim would’ve gotten caught with stealing. Robert tried to get Jim caught with stealing Miss Foley’s jewelry, but Will helped Jim escape. Will had feelings about Jim. How he was good most of the time, but sometimes wondered off to somewhere far away: “And again Will had the feeling about Jim that he had always had about an old forgotten dog” (p. 83). The time that Jim needed Will the most was when he could have died,but Will went crazy to help him survive. Mr. Dark and his freaks like when people are sad and scared, so if Will would have stayed sad, Jim would have died. But Will stayed happy with the help of Charles, who told him to “Hop! Jump! Yell!” (p. 283), because he knew that is what would help Jim wake up. Jim

The struggles depicted in the book Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns caused Will Tweedy to be the way he is. For instance, as the novel progresses Will sees many struggles. One of them is death. It mentions a couple of times of Will’s friend Bluford Jackson of getting some firecrackers for Christmas and burning his hand with one of them and died ten days later of lockjaw. This death in particular Will thinks it’s his fault for happening that it could have been avoided. Another example is his grandmother’s death and Aunt Loma’s husband Campbell Williams. Campbell Williams had suicided himself because Loma and Rucker criticize him constantly which drove him to

Taylor Greer is the primary protagonist of the adventurous tale taking place throughout multiple states in America, The Bean Trees. Taylor is girl from a town of simpletons, and she wants to escape that and live freely somewhere else. The Bean Trees is written by Barbra Kingsolver, an acclaimed author, and the story is about Taylor and her life after leaving a small town in Kentucky to find happiness. Taylor is a very complex person with a number of defining characteristics such as devotion, strength, and affection that make it possible for her to have such a mediocre story.

One reason that he finds his true self in this short story is that in the beginning, Will is confident. One example that he is confident is that he said “I’m really strong.” The text stated that he was comparing himself to Mike, and favored himself. Another example is that he said “That’s right.” in a menacing way. The short story

These being: family, schools, peer relationships, mass media, and work. Throughout the film, we see the growth of character in Will. He begins in the movie as the mishap trouble maker with a brilliant mind that’s being wasted because his inner demons are holding him hostage. Through the progression of his time in therapy, we can tell that will did not have the best home life. We discover that he was a victim of child abuse, both physical and mental. Because of this, he grows up believing that he is not worth much and will not amount to anything. Family is a big part of the way we grow up to perceive ourselves and present ourselves to others. Wills family did not show him that he was good enough so he believed he wasn’t and found solace in his school work. With the help of his peer relations and school, Will was “re-socialized” and succeeded beyond what he could have ever imagined. With the help of this therapist and time, Will resolved the resentment and attachment issues he has had since he was a child and begin to form new relationships while allowing others into his mind a bit more. This change in his life was all brought on by the professor teaching him. If he hadn’t intervened with the court and suggest that in place of jail time, Will could study under him and see a therapist, will would have never gotten better and advance much further in life. With the help of peer relations and school, will became a new and improved

His presenting self was the safeguard to his private self. Will was very much aware of his gift and his enormous potential but shunned it like some burden, or at least that's what he wanted others to believe. He often told Sean Maguire, his shrink with whom he had developed a bond, that his gift was something he didn't ask for, and he'd be perfectly fine working an honorable blue-collar job with his buddies. Despite his assertion regarding his gift as an aggravation Will's actions contradict, for he is asked why he just so happened to get a custodial job in the world's foremost institute for technology, M.I.T if he wanted nothing to do with his genius. Maguire sees behind Will's visage, he realizes Will is a wounded soul who really knows nothing about life for he hasn't experienced it, it is so much more that what he read in a book. It is hard to say what Will should have done for he had a difficult past one that most cannot relate too, or have any idea what it may be like to live it. However, If Will had been a little more open to the people who wanted to love him he would have been much happier. In his quest to never be hurt he was headed for a life where he would never be loved. His thoughts were becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy; where one's expectations of an event make that event more likely to occur (Adler, 65). Had Will been honest with himself and more willing

Therefore, Will is having issues finding out who he is if he stayed with the Smythe 's because his group of friends, whom he is trying to fit in with, would shun him, he would be taken away from his family and forget who he was and would be submerged in White Culture, losing his Aboriginal heritage.

Overall, Will has had a troubling life, never feeling like he actually belonged. He was afraid to be smart and at the same time afraid to not be. The physical and mental abuse he suffered at the hands of those who are supposed to protect him, definitely scared him

In the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver characters show female strength which supports the idea that when difficult situations occur, women need each other to lean on through hardships. Everyone has hard times when we need others’ support to help get us through, like the characters do in the book The Bean Trees.

Will uses anger, denial, and sarcasm as defense mechanisms to push people away from him. He told people that he did not have a problem and that they were the ones with the problem. He used

All of the loss in the world seemed to dissipate for a short amount of time. All Will could think about or talk about was the exciting day ahead of them, but he worries that his father will not bother to make time for him. The worlds promise was straight in front of his eyes, and all of the tragedy and sadness was behind him until a large shake occurred and the 5 floors below became smoke-filled. Early on Will had to grow up to realize the amount of responsibility and survival that truly was needed to survive. It was evident that Will actually grew up when he volunteered to relieve his Dad and help carry the injured women down the stairs after they escaped from the

Though the film fails to delve into the specifics of his childhood, it does become evident that Will bounced between foster homes and was often a victim to physical and emotional abuse. These childhood factors play a huge role in behavior as an adult. A recent study concluded that, “Toxic childhood stress alters neural responses to stress, boosting the emotional and physical arousal to threat, and making it more difficult for that reaction to be shut off” (LaBier). An inability to rationalize and control emotions and responses after abuse would indeed be seen as true in this film. This can be seen in the numerous fistfights Will found himself in. Despite the fact that Will could typically weasel his way out of convictions, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer. His conviction would turn out to be life altering. When Professor Gerald Lambeau saw potential in Will, he was offered a life that could include more than beers with friends and janitorial work. The arrangement Lambeau worked out

After a difficult start, Sean concludes that Will's defensiveness is the result of years of physical and emotional abuse, (as well as intense isolation), and that his hostile, sarcastic, and evasive behaviors are all defense mechanisms. The two work together to break through Will's considerable barriers, using a certain type of psychotherapy, and to get at the heart of the problem, dealing with Will's complex emotions. The two begin to relate to each other more, with Sean telling Will about his past and his happiness with his now