Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Who is Bo?
I want to concentrate on Bo's place in the novel Finding H.F. Best friend to H.F., who we cast as the archetypal hero in a coming of age novel, in the first half of the novel Bo seems to be the archetypal sidekick. He is quiet and sensible and, as H.F. says, he always follows her. We get the feeling that he is sensitive to people and understands them. As Margaret put it, he seems wise. However, we don't hear much from him until the second half of the book. In this part of the book, some of us argued that we see a new Bo. I argue that the sense we get of Bo in the first half is realized. While he meets Preacher Dave and Bill and begins to believe in his hope that he can make it somewhere, he was already working towards a better life. His main role is still as H.F.'s friend. He snaps her out of her miseries and knows how to help her when she needs it. While he continues to be a support to H.F., Watts develops him as a character, making him as known to us as H.F. is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I totally agree with your post. I think Bo is just as important as H.F. I think his story becomes a story with in the larger story if yuo know what I mean. Hew seems to add depth and meaning to the H.F. character. He begins to help her change as he changes not only his personality, but his overall perception of life. He begins to see life as it really is and understand the meaning of freedom. I feel that he wants H.F. to feel the same liberation. This being said he is a great side kick for H.F. Great response!!!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated this post, Safia. I think it is a really thoughtful look at Bo's role as the archetypal sidekick in the book. I think lots of times the sidekick's story is really second to that of the main character, but I love how the author has developed Bo, especially in the second part as you said, and made his discoveries and contributions to the overall story just as crucial to the book as those of H.F.. He is a great sidekick. He is loyal, honest, and helps H.F. along her own journey. And I think you're right; the Bo in part two isn't new, he just comes out of his shell and his character is developed. I think that the development of his story is intentional, because his self-awareness and all of the things he goes through that you mention help H.F. come to many of her own realizations and his sense of purpose really help H.F.'s storyline come to fruition. I agree, in the development of his character, we not only get to understand more about Bo and appreciate his character as much as H.F., but his development only adds that much more depth to his role as sidekick.
ReplyDelete