Characters and Values

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Characters tend to take to their values very strongly. A character will do anything possible to stand behind what they value. Authors use this to invoke a strong feeling in the reader, and make the plot more meaningful. By showing how strongly values affect the character, it causes one to question how strong and meaningful their own values are. A poem that does this is “1910”, by Pat Mora, and a oral history that is an example is “Tsali of the Cherokees”, by Alice Marriot.
In “1910”, symbolism is used to represent the character’s values. This character has a lot of pride, and looks highly upon herself. She values her high standing in society, self-esteem, material things, and how others look at her. The scarf and gloves in the poem are what symbolize this. Through repetition of the scarf and gloves in every line, her pride is recognized. When her pride is struck down, and the gloves and hat are thrown on the street corner, her values seem to be dented. But she stands behind them 100%; by going to the extreme of burning down the store that she is kicked out of. She gets back up and takes revenge to restore her pride, therefore backing her values.
In “Tsali of the Cherokees”, Tsali values his land very strongly. He demonstrates the ultimate act of holding up to your values. He stands behind them with his life, literally. This is demonstrated through the extreme sacrifice of death. It is a perfect example of how far a character will go to live up to their values. A very deep and dense mood is set as he stands up for what he believes in. Just as his young children are walking away from the rest of their family, gunshots can be heard. It is an unbelievable idea that a character would actually die over their values. What makes the stone sink deeper in the reader’s stomach is the fact that it’s a true story. By using this mood, the author really sets in the question as to how far one would go for their values.
Two very different examples are used in showing the strength of a character’s values, and how they play a role in the story. On one side, there is a character that seems to have selfish values. This character goes and harms others to fulfill her values.

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