"She looked at her sister with something like fear but she wasn't mad at her. This was Maggie's portion. This was the way she knew God to work."
~ Alice Walker, Everyday Use
Today in class, we talked a little bit about how putting foil characters together can exaggerate their differences. I think this was probably the story I felt the strongest about (except when I wanted to shoot myself in the face during Bartleby), simply because the two characters are on complete opposite ends of the personality gamut.
Maggie is a shy, resigned, completely selfless person. She always gives to other people (especially her psychotic sister) and thinks little of herself, even though she is genuinely a good person. She has always been a shadow to her sister because Dee is extremely confident and feels restrained in her old life - but we will get to her in a minute. I think Maggie is on the right side of the Jerk Scale.
JERK SCALE
Maggie
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JERK NOT A JERK
Dee is an overly confident person. She is selfish, inconsiderate, condescending, and ridiculous. She treats her family like poop and uses them for her heritage - which makes her a hypocrite because she completely rejected her former lifestyle when she went away; she only likes the idea of her background, she likes bragging about it to people, but she hated growing up like she did. Most of all, she never thinks of Maggie, her little sister who looks up to her and needs someone there who will tell her that she is pretty and smart and worth more than she feels like she is. But, Dee fails at all of this, so she goes on the left side of the Jerk Scale.
JERK SCALE
Dee
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JERK NOT A JERK
Yes, both of these characters probably have traits that contradict their positions on the spectrum, but having two extreme characters in the story just emphasizes their differences.
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