Round Characters

In Mowat's story "Walk Well My Brother," Charlie Lavery undergoes a profound change in character as a result of the circumstances that he and Konala undergo in their attempt to survive the harsh and frigid Arctic wasteland. In the beginning of the story, Lavery is brash and rude, focused on his own survival and viewing Konala as "a bloody albatross around his neck" (Mowat 134). He is annoyed by her attempts to feed and help him and finally-assaulted by fear that he would not survive following the wreck of his plane-starts off across the frozen tundra without her, knowing that she was sick. This cold-blooded act, which might have been met by hostility or treachery on Konala's part, is instead greeted with solicitous care when she finds him downed and wounded days later. Despite her own illness, she nurses him back to health, seemingly immune to his rudeness and uncaring actions. When she encounters a bear shortly afterward, she cries out for Lavery's help, and for the first time in the story he rewards her forgiveness and love for him by laying his own life on the line for her. He distracts the bear from her, and it leaves them both alone. From this point on, Lavery cares for the dying Konala, preparing her food and allowing her to rest while he tends to their survival. As she lies dying, she hands him a new pair of skin boots she has made and tells him to "Walk well in them...my brother" (Mowat 148). Lavery has gone from being an uncaring tyrant to a "brother"

Related Essays

Candide & Six Characters in Search of an Author .... play and uses it to raise questions as to how we can tell when reality ends and illusion begins, or the other way round. The selfhood of his characters is less .... (1923 8 )

Six Characters in Search of an Author .... play and uses it to raise questions as to how we can tell when reality ends and illusion begins, or the other way round. The selfhood of his characters is less .... (2619 10 )

Actress Kate Reid .... By 1973, a new Festival Theater had opened and the festival officially became a year round project (Shemanski 49). Many of the characters played by Kate Reid .... (1272 5 )

Kate Reid .... By 1973, a new Festival Theater had opened and the festival officially became a year round project (Shemanski 49). Many of the characters played by Kate Reid .... (1272 5 )

Gregor Mendel and Genetic Behavior .... It further clarified dominant and recessive "differentiating characters," as Mendel calls them. Thus peas would be round or wrinkled. .... (1755 7 )

Category: Literature - R