Characterizing A Northern Light
The most important character in this book is Mattie, who is very intelligent, and is very aware of what's going on. She has a great memory and many life experiences for her age.
She often knows what's going on in other people's lives, whether she obtains this information through her aunt, or by noticing it.
Mattie is also very self-conscious and has goals, but not a plan for her future.
Some quotes to back up our claims:
"Belinda is a pretty name. It feels like meringue in your mouth or a curl of sugar on snow. Not like Matt. Matt is the sound of knots in a dog's coat or something you wipe your feet on."
"I stared at Royal's backside. I had never really noticed a man's backside before. Pa didn't have one. It was flat as a cracker. Mamma would tease him about it and he'd tell her the lumber bosses worked it off him. I thought Royal's was very nice. Round and proud like two loaves of soda bread."
"Misnomer: It means a misapplied name. Like when you call a fat person Slim."
"His name's not Carl Grahm. It's Chester. Chester Gillete."
"'It says I'm accepted', I finally side. 'And that I've got a scholarship. A full scholarship."
Weaver is also very smart, and has memorized more words from the dictionary than Mattie has. He's been accepted into the same college, except his letter came many months before Mattie's did. He also has beliefs he sticks to, and is very close with his mother. Weaver is someone who is really sassy, but also caring for those he keeps close to him.
"Weaver never stepped of the sidewalk or doffed his hat. He'd scrap with anyone who called him nigger, and was never scared for himself."
"Weaver always says freedom is like Sloan's Liniment, always promising more than it delivers."
Mattie's mom died of a sickness and we haven't had much detail of what happened, but obviously it happened within the past year. She was a loving wife and mother, who always wanted the best for her kids, even if her husband didn't agree. She kept the family together and happy, so after her death, Mattie's brother Lawton left, and Mattie's father is depressed.
Mattie's mother was also very intelligent, as she also liked to read words from the dictionary.
"Cost your mother a whole dollar secondhand, that book [...] Never spent a penny on herself, and then throws away a whole dollar on that thing."
"I don't know what Miss Wilcox said to her, but after she left, Mamma told me I was to get my diploma even though Pa wanted me to leave school."
"When Mamma was alive, she could make breakfast for seven people, hear our lessons, patch Pa's trousers, pack our dinner pails, start the milk to clabbering, and roll out a piecrust. All at the same time and without ever raising her voice."
She often knows what's going on in other people's lives, whether she obtains this information through her aunt, or by noticing it.
Mattie is also very self-conscious and has goals, but not a plan for her future.
Some quotes to back up our claims:
"Belinda is a pretty name. It feels like meringue in your mouth or a curl of sugar on snow. Not like Matt. Matt is the sound of knots in a dog's coat or something you wipe your feet on."
"I stared at Royal's backside. I had never really noticed a man's backside before. Pa didn't have one. It was flat as a cracker. Mamma would tease him about it and he'd tell her the lumber bosses worked it off him. I thought Royal's was very nice. Round and proud like two loaves of soda bread."
"Misnomer: It means a misapplied name. Like when you call a fat person Slim."
"His name's not Carl Grahm. It's Chester. Chester Gillete."
"'It says I'm accepted', I finally side. 'And that I've got a scholarship. A full scholarship."
Weaver is also very smart, and has memorized more words from the dictionary than Mattie has. He's been accepted into the same college, except his letter came many months before Mattie's did. He also has beliefs he sticks to, and is very close with his mother. Weaver is someone who is really sassy, but also caring for those he keeps close to him.
"Weaver never stepped of the sidewalk or doffed his hat. He'd scrap with anyone who called him nigger, and was never scared for himself."
"Weaver always says freedom is like Sloan's Liniment, always promising more than it delivers."
Mattie's mom died of a sickness and we haven't had much detail of what happened, but obviously it happened within the past year. She was a loving wife and mother, who always wanted the best for her kids, even if her husband didn't agree. She kept the family together and happy, so after her death, Mattie's brother Lawton left, and Mattie's father is depressed.
Mattie's mother was also very intelligent, as she also liked to read words from the dictionary.
"Cost your mother a whole dollar secondhand, that book [...] Never spent a penny on herself, and then throws away a whole dollar on that thing."
"I don't know what Miss Wilcox said to her, but after she left, Mamma told me I was to get my diploma even though Pa wanted me to leave school."
"When Mamma was alive, she could make breakfast for seven people, hear our lessons, patch Pa's trousers, pack our dinner pails, start the milk to clabbering, and roll out a piecrust. All at the same time and without ever raising her voice."
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