Personal Development of The Main Character in Raymond's Run

Everyone has dreams and desires, but sometimes these can make it hard to think of someone besides one’s self. In the story “Raymond’s Run,” Squeaky is a determined and confident girl who is in the process of refining her value and personality. At the beginning of the story, Squeaky’s focus is winning and running, but by the end of the story, Squeaky realizes that life isn’t all about herself. Throughout the story, Squeaky learns lessons by observing people around her which changes her main focus. During the story, Squeaky’s character matures because of Gretchen’s and Raymond’s actions. Squeaky changes from the beginning of the story to the end because she became less self-centered, noticed her brother’s talent, and started to have respect for Gretchen. Squeaky’s character changed throughout the story because she became less self-centered.

In the beginning of the story, Squeaky claims that she is an invincible athlete by calling herself, “Miss Quicksilver”. As she continues to describe her abilities, she begins to describe the short comes around her. While describing her older brother Raymond, she says, “But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and he’s older too. But a lot of people call him my little brother because he’s not quite right.” This shows that Squeaky doesn’t understand Raymond’s simple mind. She also describes Gretchen and says, “She’s got short legs. In third place, she’s got freckles. In the first place, no one can beat me and that all there is to it.” She again recapitulates that she is the fastest runner which makes her a bit confrontational and at times, absent-minded to her brother’s special needs. She’s describing people negatively, which seem to have an effect on her and would separate herself from them.

She is very self-centered but throughout the story, she learns to appreciate determination and value of others. The confident girl’s character changes throughout the course of the story. Her respect for Raymond grows as the events take place and force her to look beyond herself. In the beginning of the story, Raymond is described as a vexation to Squeaky. She says, “He’s subject to fits of fantasy and starts thinking he’s a circus performer and the curb as a tightrope strung high in the air. And sometimes after the rain, he likes to step down off his tightrope right into a gutter and slosh around getting his shoes and cuffs wet.”

However, at the end of the story, while Squeaky is running, she is able to put aside her self-centered concerns and examines the talent Raymond possesses. As Squeaky finishes the race, she says, “ And it occurs to me, watching how smoothly he climbs hand over hand and remembering how he looked running with his arms down to his side and with the wind pulling his mouth back and his teeth showing and all, it occurred to me that Raymond would make a very fine runner.” She remembered her brother’s ability to run, and she realizes that she can coach Raymond. Her negative view of Raymond changes to a positive. Her character changes throughout the story because she notices Raymond’s talent.

Works Cited

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