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About the main characters
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... about Will
Characterization of Will
Will Freeman is presented as a 36-year-old well-off man, who lives in London. Although he has no job, he has no financial problems because he “earns” money from a famous Christmas song written by his father. So Will has enough time to do “important” things like buying CD´s or driving around London in his sports car.
Will takes life easy. The only thing he is really interested in is his “coolness quotient”. His relationship to other people is only superficial. He knows people from football or squash or pub quiz teams. That is enough for him and he does not want to take responsibility. This becomes particularly clear at the beginning of the novel when Christine and John, a couple who he is friends with, want Will to be their daughter’s godfather. Will wriggles to make them understand that this is no “job” for him. It can be seen that Will is not particularly fond of children and is not able to handle them.
Moreover, Will acts selfishly towards others and when he recognizes that single mothers are easy to have good sex with he decides to join a club for single parents (SPAT: Single Parents – Alone Together) to get into contact with women who are easy to please.
Later Will’s character changes when he is faced with Marcus´ and Fiona’s problems. He begins to wonder about reasons for their behaviour and searches for an aim in his life. Will is able to recognize Marcus´ problems and helps him to become a regular kid who contradicts his mother and goes his own way.
(Janine Herberger, Melissa Sticke)
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... about Fiona
Characterization of Fiona
Fiona is a 38-year-old single mother who works as a music therapist. She lives together with her son Marcus in London. She has separated from Marcus’ father for some time and has no new boyfriend yet, which – among other reasons - makes her depressed. Because of her stressful life and the feelings of not being able to cope with her problems she tries to commit suicide. She thinks her life has turned in a direction which she has never wanted.
Fiona is a hippie and raises Marcus like a boy 25 years ago. She wants him to listen to the same music and to wear the clothes she likes.
In addition, she is a vegetarian and wants Marcus to be one, too. Fiona does not allow Marcus to go to McDonalds’. She does not let him grow up and become independent and controls his whole life. Marcus does everything to please her.
When Fiona learns about the friendship between Will and Marcus she is very sceptical and doesn’t want Marcus to see Will any longer. She even accuses Will of being homosexual. Later when she understands that Marcus “seems to think he needs adult male company” (chapter 18, p. 126) she more or less accepts the friendship.
(Janine Herberger, Melissa Sticke, Sandra Ahlborn)
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... about Marcus
Characterization of Marcus
Marcus is a 12-year-old boy, who has had much trouble in his life because he is different from all the other kids at his age. He is an outsider. Marcus´ parents are divorced and he lives with his mother in London, while his father lives with his new girlfriend in Cambridge.
His mother Fiona has not got a new boyfriend and because she feels overburdened with her life she suffers from depression. One day she tries to commit suicide and, as a result, Marcus feels responsible for her. He tries to solve his own problems at school alone because, in his opinion, his mother has enough problems of her own.
Marcus has no friends and he is bullied at school because of his outward appearance. He is dressed like a 25-year-old "chartered accountant on his day off” (chapter 8, p. 49) and, what is more, he has a strange haircut. All the kids laugh at him, especially as he starts singing out loud whenever he is nervous. He does not listen to the same music, or wear the same clothes like the others. No one accepts him and he has nobody to talk to.
This changes when he meets Will. Will is cool and knows what kids at his age need. First Will is not very keen on getting to know Marcus more, but gradually a deep friendship develops. Marcus talks with Will about his problems, goes shopping with him and Will understands him because he knows about Marcus´ mother’s problems. Marcus sometimes is really sad because Will understands him better than his own mother. In the course of the growing friendship Will helps him to become a regular kid.
(Janine Herberger, Melissa Sticke)
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... about Ellie McCrae
Characterization of Ellie McCrae
Ellie McCrae is a 15-year-old girl who lives together with her mother in London.Her outward appearance is different from girls at her age. She prefers wearing Kurt Cobain shirts instead of the school uniform sweater, because she is a big fan of his music. This difference is also recognizable in her character.For Ellie it is not important to wear modern clothes or to behave like everyone does in order not to step out of line. That is why she gets into contact with Marcus.
This relationship can be explained like “pet and owner” because she just sees it as a normal friendship whereas Marcus falls in love with her. She helps him in various situations and defends him against other kids who want to bully him. For Marcus it is new to have friends, so he treats her as someone special when he realizes that he is able to talk with her about his problems.In some situations Ellie is very emotional. For example, after Kurt Cobain’s suicide she gets drunk and starts throwing one of her boots into the shop window of a music store.
(Sandra Ahlborn)