Whirligig Character Analysis

In the novel “Whirligig” by Paul Flesischman, the main character, Brent, experiences a life changing year. In this novel, readers see Brent’s life and also the future and how his life later impacts others. Brent is affected when he kills Lea. Brent makes whirligigs throughout the novel and this affects people around the world by making them happy just like Lea made people happy. In one of the future stories, a main character, Tony’s mom makes Tony practice a lot and then he quits. The theme of the novel is that throughout “Whirligig” readers can see that people’s actions affect characters in the story. One way in the novel where someone’s behavior impacts characters is when 16 year old Brent kills Lea, this affects him immensely. Brent was …show more content…
After Brent killed Lea Zamora, he met with her mom Mrs.Zamora to talk about restitution. Mrs.Zamora wanted Brent to make whirligigs in the four corners of the United States because her daughter, Lea, loved whirligigs, especially the one her grandfather made with her face on it. The whirligig made people smile when they saw it, the mother said “Let people all over the country receive joy from her even though she is gone. You make the smiles that she would have made.” Brent made the whirligigs just like the mother requested. In the future, a grandmother that was Jewish who survived the concentration camps showed her granddaughter Jenny the whirligig. The grandmother explained to her that just because a lot of bad stuff has happened does not mean they can’t be happy. When Jenny saw the whirligig it made her joyous. As a result of Brent making the whirligigs, he started to feel more at peace for what he did. The theme is portrayed by Brent’s consolatory actions of making the whirligigs which profoundly affected the grandmother and