Taylor Greer Character Analysis

Superior Essays
Diana Dudurkaewa
Accelerated Eng. 1-2
Mr.Pinkerton
11 Aug. 2014 Taylor Greer
The protagonist, narrator, and the main character of the novel is Taylor Greer. Her original name was Marietta or “Missy” as people tend to call her, but she changed her name when she began her journey. She is self-reliant and assertive, and believes that she doesn’t need a man nor children in her life. She has the ability to laugh at not only herself but others as well. Taylor lives mostly in Arizona in an apartment with her roommate named Lou Ann, and spends a brief time in Pittman County, Kentucky in the beginning of the book. Taylor impacts the plot the most by adopting Turtle, because it affected the ending of the novel and it was an enormous part in the story.
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In the beginning of the book, Lou Ann lacked self-confidence, and would continually criticize herself. Once Angel Ruiz, Lou Ann Ruiz’s husband, left and Taylor Greer moved in, she became confident within herself. Lou Ann is worrisome, kind-hearted, and motherly; she is self-conscious and fears the death of her infant, Dwayne Ray, and herself. Throughout the book, she is always in Arizona, living in an apartment. Lou Ann impacts the plot the most when she lectures Taylor Greer to do something about Turtle going to be taken away from her. If Lou Ann hadn’t done that, then it wouldn’t cross Taylors mind to go to Oklahoma and fight for Turtles custody, and the ending of the novel would change completely. Lou Ann is a very important character, because without her a lot of events would turn out dramatically different. If Taylor Greer hadn’t met Lou Ann, then the whole novel would be …show more content…
Mattie is a very political, warm-hearted, and caring woman. She is friends with Taylor Greer, Esperanza, Estevan, Lou Ann, and a couple of the other characters within the novel. Mattie lives in Tucson, Arizona throughout the novel, and spends most of her time at the Jesus Is Lord Used Tires shop. Mattie impacts the plot the most when she gives Taylor shelter and a job, and when she tells all her friends that she needs to find a reasonable way to transport Estevan and Esperanza to another safe house farther away from the border. Giving Taylor a job and shelter, allowed Taylor to meet all of the characters. If she hadnt met all the characters, then she would have probably left and the novels outcome would have changed. Also trying to find a way to transport Estevan and Esperanza is essential, because if this never happened, then Taylor wouldn’t have them to adopt Turtle. Mattie is a crucial character in this novel, not only for her actions having major effects on the outcome of the story, but she is also the character who generally pushes the characters to doing an action within the novel

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