MASTRiF 2011 Student Number: 0119024 A Character Study – Past the long grass
Alec McFeet 12 Is small for his age. He's a shy, unconfident kid with big ears and a granddad hair cut. He wears hand me down clothes and shares a pair of shoes with his 5 older brothers. The shoes are way too big for him and he ties them to his feet with string. He's the black sheep of the family and his 'rough and tumble' brothers don't let him forget it. Alec's mother died when giving birth to him and it's a masculine existence for himself and his father and brothers, but Alec takes solace in his friendship with Michele 12.
They are opposite sides of the same coin, picking up where the other leaves off. Alec is forced out of his comfort zone when he looses the family's shoes. This pushes him to face up to his introversion and the strained relationship he has with his father. Through his friendship with Michele and the development of his own decisiveness, Alec is able to learn the lesson his mother was never able teach him; the code of morality. It is in
this lesson that Alec finds strength and grows comfortable in his own skin. When his father recognizes this trait in him he develops a new respect and understanding for his son.
Michele Harris 12
Is a pretty kid, with inquisitive eyes and a passed down guilt complex. She's highly intelligent and under schooled. Her mother works hard as a bus cleaner and her father isn't around. Michele takes care of her little sister Deana who she is very protective of. She's grown up quick and learned life’s lessons too young. She's isolated in the place between childhood and adulthood and takes solace in her friendship with Alec who is also, a far stretch from an average kid.
Michele is a serious kid, she thinks things through way too much and her mother puts a lot of pressure on her to always be right. Michele has a troubled relationship with her sister who is stifled by her and her mother’s pressures. Michele learns to share the weight of responsibility with Deana by finally stepping back and allowing her to contribute. Michele learns that mistakes can be corrected and finds solidarity in her relationship with her sister when she learns to accept help.
Deana Harris 10
Is a hyper kid with a bad stutter. She's misunderstood and completely stifled. Michele and Lynne often finish Deana's sentences and do too much for her out of a heightened sense of responsibility. But Deana has grown up fast too and is angry and frustrated at her inability to communicate properly, made worse by the stifling. Michele learns to share some responsibility with Deana through their shared experience, which in turn brings out the best in both of them. Deana finds herself in a situation where she is needed and this helps her start to communicate more effectively. When Deana is relied upon and given some responsibility she becomes less angry and an understanding and friendship, between her and her sister finally starts to develop.
Lynne Harris 30
Is a pretty bus cleaner with strong ideals and OCD. She works hard and relies on Michele far too much. She is extremely over protective of Deana and has inadvertently become a destructive force in her life. Lynne is carrying a guilt complex because she feels responsible for driving
the girls abusive father away. Lynne is strong and she is a good woman who wants the best for her daughters, but life has been tough on her. When Lynne finds out that the girls have found Jims dead wife and helped him to deal with his loss she realizes that her daughters are starting to grow up and that she can relax. For the first time she feels like she has done right by them as a mother and this helps her to start feel rational again.
Tam McFeet 40
Is a miner and a heavy drinker. He is well respected in the community, as a mans-man. His wife Nancy died 12 years previously and he and the family have been going through the motions ever since. He works hard to provide for his 6 sons but he is extremely pre-occupied and they are very poor. Tam’s relationship with his sons is strained at best and he and Alec spend their lives avoiding one another. He doesn't understand Alec but bonds with the others through hunting and play fighting. Alec feels like his father blames him for his mother’s death. When Alec finally tells Tam about Big Jim’s dead wife and admits to stealing his shoes Tam is forced to face up to his feelings about his own wife’s death. Tam then thinks he recognizes Nancy’s sympathetic and moral traits, in Alec and a new understanding opens up between
them. In his meeting with Jim, Tam learns to take his own advice and makes the realization that it is time for him too move on for the sake of himself and his boys.
Big Jim 71
Is an innocent soul. His wife of 55 years has died and he is unable to face up to it. He washes and dresses Dotty’s body everyday as if nothing has happened. He acts more and more suspiciously around the villagers as he starts to crumble under the weight of the charade. The villagers have become suspicious of his friendship with the children. But Jim sees hope in their youth and is innocently drawn to them, like a moth to a flame. When the children find Dotty’s body they have to make their minds up whether the villagers are right to be suspicious of Jim or if they should sacrifice their own needs to help their friend.