Star of Night

Star of Night

Characterization

In this at first chilling, but also very heartwarming story, there is a man named Carl Porter. He lives with his wife and two daughters. He used to have a son...but that son ran away due toz arguments with his father and it was reported that he died because of drug overdose. The family at first is not heartbroken, but rather in a state of denial. They are not yet ready to believe that their son/brother is dead. Time passes and soon the two daughters begin to refer to their brother in the past tense. When a phone call from an old college friend of Jimmy's saying that he saw Jim walking the streets of downtown D.C, there is hope and Carl goes out in the search of his prodigal son. Carl is a primary character as well as the main protagonist of the story. There are many traits of Carl in Star of Night, including hopefulness--his son may be alive and he may find him. He may be able to tell him all of the things that went unsaid between the two of them. He might be able to do what had been quickly becoming impossible...to find his "dead"son. Also, he is somewhat desperate to find his son now that he has a glimmer of hope and would hate to let his family down after the long trip that he makes so close to Christmas. However, all of his hopes and dreams have been crushed one too many times lately and he has learned to hope in a dull and ready-to-be-disappointed-yet-again way. Another one of his strong points is that he is persistent. Of course, as we now know, even protagonists must have flaws; Carl does. He is sick and weary with despair. He isn't invincible. He is weak. He is human. He punished his son just past the boundary. He was too harsh, and now here he was, searching desperately for the loved one that he drove away.

There are some secondary characters as well. First, there are the daughters of Carl as well as Carl's wife. The role that they play is not significant in the story line, but rather, they are there to make the "death" of a person more dramatic. This son that died was a hard blow to his whole family. Secondly, there is a high school friend of Jimmy's. Unlike the other family members, this character is VITAL to the story. He is the man that gives the whole family hope with one phone call. If it weren't for him, this family probably lived their lives in grief, not knowing the real fate of their son. Also, there is a Janitor that points the way to the church in DC where Carl can find help. Though not as important as the friend of Jim's, this man does help with the pursuit of Jim. Finally, there is the detective friend that tracks down a girl at a party that may be able to help them find Jim. Though his physical appearance is never mentioned and he only comes to the story once, he did what no one else in the story could do; he pinpointed the person who would take Carl to his son. And that is amazing. This character is much like the high school friend. He took a huge step for the author and the readers. He moved the story along when everything was hopelessly stuck.

There are some other characters that I don't know what you would call. They are basically between being the main point of the story (primary) and being minor but significant (secondary.) The pastor, Mr. Woodson, who is an old friend of Carl's not only hooks him up with an ingenious detective, but then stays with Carl through the whole search. Tiny, a girl at a party, is much like this character, though reluctant to help, she correctly directs them to the house at which Jim is staying, being a good friend of the girl that Jim lives with. This girl's name is never stated, however she makes it into this category because she is the mother of Jim's baby. The baby, named Jason is pitied by the reader because he is cheerful, blind to all of the pain and suffering around him. Sound familiar? I think that this baby is supposed to represent Jesus. Then there is Independence Murray, a young man who Carl finds in his car late at night. Safe? Carl doesn't think so. The man claims that he only wants a warm house on Christmas cause his wife kicked him out. True? Possible, but Carl still has many doubts, but lets Independence, a dark haired man who looks 12, ride with him and Tiny to search for Jim. This man is incredible. Though he may look and act poorly on the outside, he is cheerful and cheering in the midst of his struggles. Not only that, but Independence finds the address of Jim's house when nobody else could.

Lastly, Jimmy himself. This primary and MAJOR character is not only the main goal and plot of the story, but he only appears in one scene. Jimmy Porter went from a laughing, bright eyed boy who loved his life to a stubborn, narrow eyed enemy named Brian Jones. Though seen only once, by reading this story, you can pick up many weaknesses in this boy. He is quick to make decisions, and slow to think of what his consequences may be. He is stubborn and hateful. However, he had a reason for that. His father was too harsh for his liking. He meant to just get away for awhile, but that turned out to be until his father found him. In my opinion, eventually he would be a prodigal son and come back to his father.