Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Kate's Brother... I Mean Jesse


Authors note: I wrote this piece to show my understanding of character analysis. I did not include how Jesse is similar to another character. Jesse is similar to Haymich from the hunger games because they are both covered up by these titles. “The Winner” and “The brother of the girl with cancer” No one takes the time to find the real them and they become sick of it. They both resort to drugs, and scandalous behavior.  Another thing I didn’t include was how Jesse influenced other characters. I think Jesse’s negative attitude influenced Anna to realize how her family really worked, and opened her eyes to reality.

Jesse Fitzgerald is 17. He’s a spitting image of his mom, he loves music, and he’s a lot smarter then he looks. He’s good at art, he used to watch Sunday cartoons every Sunday, and one time, he tried to dig a hole all the way to China. There so many things about Jesse that the world doesn’t know, because the fact that Jesse’s sister is sick, is all that seems to matter. Even his parents seem to forget about him. And I think, this is why Kate being sick, has changed Jesse for the worst.

Being the sibling of a cancer patient can be harsh. And living in a family, where sickness is all you talk about, isn’t really a healthy environment for a 4 year old to grow up in. When Jessie was four he was an average boy. Sweet and caring. When his mom wakes up late he informs her that he has already “eated” breakfast and had made some for her as well. But, through the years that Jesse was lost. And a new Jessie slowly began to form. I think the day this new Jesse arrived when was when he was 10 or so. His mom had promised him that they would go to his orthodontist appointment and after, she would take him to go buy a pair of new baseball cleats.  But, when he told her it was time to go. She told him his sister was sick. Jessie responded with “Yeah Kate’s sick, but why don’t you grow up and realize the whole world doesn’t revolve around her?” And he was right. His mom did need to realize that. And when she didn’t ,  She left Jesse devastated.

Eventually this new Jessie got larger. He continued to grow and grow. But, it really hit its growth spurt the Christmas eve of when he was twelve. That night Kate had gotten sick, so is parents had shipped Jesse off to the neighbor’s house. He not only had to spend Christmas without his family, but he had to spend it watching strangers have the family he always wanted. He eventually got sick of the sympathetic looks, and snuck back over to his house. There, he cut down a tree, put it up, and decorated it all by himself. Content with what he had done, he fell asleep. In the morning he found presents under the tree, and gladly ripped one of his open, only to find a toy truck from the gift shop of the hospital. He open present after presents. Each one held a little bit of disappointment, and a trinket his parents had found on the way home from the hospital that last night. He felt forgotten and abandoned. Not to mention, no one said a word about the tree.

Now that Jesse is 17, the new him is full grown. He has reached breaking point. He find himself thinking about things that most kids his age, don’t. One day, Jesse took an adventure in his car. He rode to the highway, and cranked up the speed to 95 miles per hour. He thinks to himself “On my license it says I’m an organ donor, but truth is, I would consider myself to be an organ martyr”. But, I think Jesse expresses himself best when he thinks “I’m much better dead then I am alive” The little boy that played and laughed, is now thinking that he, doesn’t deserve the chance to live.

Throughout the novel a whole new Jesse is created. A little monster created by need and attention.  A little monster, caused by Kate’s cancer. They need to bring the old Jesse back. A Jesse, who is good at art. A Jesse who loves Christmas. A Jesse who once had enough ambition to attempt to dig a hole, all the way to China. 

No comments:

Post a Comment