Bastard out of Carolina
Dorothy Allison
Plotline
The main character's mother is telling her never to steal, and telling her about her bad older cousins.
Rising action:
The main character steals some tootsie rolls from a Winn-Dixie store.
Climax:
The main character gets caught and is forced to confess her crime to the store and pay for the candy she stole, and begins to get very upset with the man at the store.
Falling action/Resolution:
the girl starts to calm down from being mad at the storekeeper, but realizes that she doesn't really feel bad for stealing the candy.
Theme
Conflict
Setting
Mama
Main Character
In this story, the main character's mother is telling her about her older cousins and bad choices they've made. Eventually the main character steals some candy from a store and her mom makes her pay. Although the author never directly stated it, through those events, we can assume that the main character is a fairly young, and just coming of age.
The following quote helps describe another place of indirect characterization in the story.
"Slimy son of a bitch probably eats tootsie rolls all day long." (80).
This is in the story when the main character is getting scolded by the store keeper after she confesses her crimes. She is getting very angry with the man, and through the words she uses to describe him in her head, we can somewhat assume that she isn't the nicest child in the world and could be quite feisty.
Figurative Language
"Slimy son of a bitch, probably eats tootsie rolls all day long." (80).
This is a great metaphor that the main character uses to describe a Win Dixie store keeper (in her head of course!). This metaphor makes it very easy to understand what the main character is thinking about the store keeper, and also makes it more interesting and humorous to read.