Turtle Characteristics

In the novel, Turtle displays a number of characteristics such as being bashful, unusual, and lifeless. Turtle’s past life in which her mother dies and a person or possibly more abuses her results in traits that a typical child would not have. Clearly, Turtle begins by being bashful who often refuses to communicate or interact with people around her. “‘Are you a girl or a boy?’ I asked the child. It had a cereal bowl haircut, like pictures you see of Chinese kids. She or he said nothing.”(20) Whenever Taylor asks Turtle some questions Taylor gets nothing in response. Turtle appears to distrust her, which makes sense because people tend to avoid trusting others after experiencing a horror happen to them especially when it is an innocent child that experiences it. In addition, …show more content…
Undoubtedly, Turtle begins to articulate and say everything she wants after learning about plants. “Turtle waved hers up and down like a drum major’s baton, shouting, ‘Combine, combine, combine!’.” (207) Before, Turtle never talks or make at least a sound with her voice, but as the novel progresses, not only does she respond to people but also voluntarily lets her voice out to be heard by everyone. Certainly, animated becomes one of Turtle’s characteristics just like other ordinary children who seem to be always full of energy. “Turtle still had a good deal of energy, and was less interested in eating than in bouncing and jumping and running in circles around the trees.” (209) Turtle is similar to an actual turtle that hides in its shell waiting for predators to leave except the predators for Turtle are her past. Turtle then comes out of her shell for Turtle has a new family willing to protect her and serves as a place to belong like a turtle’s shell. Lastly, Turtle starts to be more open thus, she feels comfortable to be expressive and