John Flanagan Character Analysis

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John Flanagan: The Search for Identity John Flanagan’s characters are defined by their experiences and the people they grow up around. In Flanagan’s series, the characters he creates are nearly always portrayed as a young adult, which displays the development of his characters in the best light. This is why Ranger’s Apprentice features four separate books that all feature the development and coming of age for different characters: young Will and Horace become apprenticed in The Ruins of Gorlan, Will becomes an adult Ranger in his own right in The Sorcerer of the North and Erak’s Ransom, and young Maddie grows beyond her royal status and learns how to fend for herself in The Royal Ranger. Flanagan’s books are characterized by young characters …show more content…
Horace’s newfound friendship with Will is put to the test in this situation as he was beaten savagely and left almost for dead: “He groaned softly, longing for the release of unconsciousness, wanting to let himself sink into its dark, welcoming arms so that the pain would go away, at least for a while” (151). Horace comes to Will’s aid and ends up saving him once again. Not only does this incident further Will and Horace’s relationship, but it also creates a relationship between Horace and Halt. When Horace confronts the bullies—“‘That’s enough!’ … Will, crouched on the ground, waiting for the beating to begin, arms over his head, looked up and saw Horace, bruised and battered, a few meters away” (156)—Halt arrives shortly later, and, instead of helping Horace, he allows Horace to have “a practice bout with this hero [the bully] in front of me” (159). Halt increases Horace’s confidence in himself, while also proving Horace’s natural fighting ability. Halt teaches Horace—and Flanagan teaches the reader—that sometimes things worthwhile have to be fought …show more content…
Chris Crowe observes in his article “Young Adult Literature: The Problem with YA Literature” that there has been a forthcoming of “a more recent concern about ‘bleak’ books being released by YA publishers”, saying that this phenomenon is “as if publishers are pandering to the more prurient tastes of today’s adolescents” (148). Flanagan’s novels are different from novels like these. Flanagan plays to his audience in that he writes his novels for young adults, but does not write them to be dark or inappropriate. Flanagan does not change his characters or themes to follow current trends, but instead stays true to his characters.
Characters in Flanagan’s novels have their previous backgrounds and knowledge challenged when they encounter new experiences. In Erak’s Ransom, for example, Will has little confidence in himself and does not think that he has the ability to work as a full-fledged Ranger in his own right. He soon learns, however, that he had been greatly underestimating himself, and that he had abilities and skills that he did not take into consideration when worrying about

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