The Night Rhonda Ferguson Was Killed is a realistic fiction piece by Edward P. Jones. Cassandra G. Lewis is the main character and protagonist of the story which centers around her adventure in the heart of Washington D.C. Throughout the adventure, the character traits of independence and violence are depicted in great detail. Jones uses a melange of curse-infused dialogue, imagery and inner voice to express these traits and overall form Cassandra’s varietal character.
The story begins off with a detailed description of Cassandra and the setting of her school, which helps bring to light her independent and somewhat rebellious nature. Cassandra doesn’t have a strong focus on her academics as she frequently skips class, as mentioned “[she] sat …show more content…
Cassandra mentions in an flustered fury to her friend Melanie that she gives herself up to men nonchalantly, as she states: “You know how many girls pull down their panties and give up the booty just cause some boy is cute! Just cause some boy has some shitty good hair!... and you, you the leader of them all Melanie. (pg.48)” Here the author uses dialogue to express Cassandra’s angered state. Her irritance with Melanie’s tendencies consequently demonstrates that she doesn’t bend to the control of men and their will even if they are highly attractive. In addition, it brings light to her independence from yet another group of people (men) as she doesn’t follow the “norm” which she believes is giving yourself up to any boy solely on the basis of physical attributes. Lastly, she goes into grief-stricken denial in the end of the story after receiving the news that her close friend Rhonda Ferguson has been killed by her child’s father Jeffrey Stanford. As Cassandra’s parents are no longer alive, that factor influences her independence/lack of any close bonds with people, consequently making her take in the news of Rhonda’s death to herself. However, she does receive some condolence, but it’s from a girl named Anita who Cassandra doesn’t know very well. Cassandra comes to Anita’s house and has a cup of cocoa and after a bit, she says “‘I got to be goin… I got to be goin to home,’ saying home as it were a foreign word…(pg.53).” Jones uses both dialogue and inner voice to express that because Cassandra is an orphan, she doesn’t have close relationships with existing family members and other people, nor has any attachment to a home. Subsequently, Anita invites her to sleep at her house for the night. Overall, Cassandra’s independence is both yin and yang as she demonstrates that she doesn’t
The story begins off with a detailed description of Cassandra and the setting of her school, which helps bring to light her independent and somewhat rebellious nature. Cassandra doesn’t have a strong focus on her academics as she frequently skips class, as mentioned “[she] sat …show more content…
Cassandra mentions in an flustered fury to her friend Melanie that she gives herself up to men nonchalantly, as she states: “You know how many girls pull down their panties and give up the booty just cause some boy is cute! Just cause some boy has some shitty good hair!... and you, you the leader of them all Melanie. (pg.48)” Here the author uses dialogue to express Cassandra’s angered state. Her irritance with Melanie’s tendencies consequently demonstrates that she doesn’t bend to the control of men and their will even if they are highly attractive. In addition, it brings light to her independence from yet another group of people (men) as she doesn’t follow the “norm” which she believes is giving yourself up to any boy solely on the basis of physical attributes. Lastly, she goes into grief-stricken denial in the end of the story after receiving the news that her close friend Rhonda Ferguson has been killed by her child’s father Jeffrey Stanford. As Cassandra’s parents are no longer alive, that factor influences her independence/lack of any close bonds with people, consequently making her take in the news of Rhonda’s death to herself. However, she does receive some condolence, but it’s from a girl named Anita who Cassandra doesn’t know very well. Cassandra comes to Anita’s house and has a cup of cocoa and after a bit, she says “‘I got to be goin… I got to be goin to home,’ saying home as it were a foreign word…(pg.53).” Jones uses both dialogue and inner voice to express that because Cassandra is an orphan, she doesn’t have close relationships with existing family members and other people, nor has any attachment to a home. Subsequently, Anita invites her to sleep at her house for the night. Overall, Cassandra’s independence is both yin and yang as she demonstrates that she doesn’t