Characterization
Zachary
Direct Characterization
Direct Characterization
Direct Characterization
- 18 years old, IQ 160, excellent student
- “Clipped, mock-gallant manner when speaking with female classmates” à shows how he had little interest in them except for Sunny
- "unfailingly courteous, but unfailingly cool; measured; formal”
- “impervious to the giddy rise and ebb of adolescent emotion”
- “shy, stammering, yet forceful, even bold”
- His classmates remembered him as antisocial and a loner
- Shunned sports
- “had such a physical presence…His head appeared oversized, even for his massive body; his eyes were deep-set, with a look of watchfulness and secrecy; his skin was tallow-colored, and blemished, in wavering patches like topographical maps.”
- Thought he was “sick, crazy, perverted”
Direct Characterization
- “astonishing smile”, popular, confident, good-looking, cheerleader
- Devout Christian
- “An all-American girl too good to be true who is nonetheless TRUE”
- Not a girl of secrets or stealth
- Indirect
- She couldn’t tell Zachary to get lost because she was compassionate
- Vain: she was so flattered by Zachary’s attention that she did not realize that he was only using her as a front to hide who he truly was
- Zachary’s only friend
- Highly intelligent, inclined to impatience and sarcasm
Literary Elements
- 3rd person limited point of view allows the author to give the reader a glimpse into what the characters are thinking to show the emotional trouble they go through but without giving away their entire thought process
- Conflicts: Zachary vs. Himself, Zachary Vs. Society, Sunny vs. Society
- “Though one day, and soon, Sunny would examine her beliefs, and question the faith into which she’d been born…” --> Foreshadowing
- “It would be murmured of Dr. Graff’s precocious son, in retrospect, that he’d been perhaps too serious.” --> Foreshadowing
- Sunny tells Zachary it’s a free world and he said “Oh no it isn’t, Sunny. For some of us, it isn’t” foreshadowing Zachary’s death --> Illustrates the tough high school world, but also how hard it was for people who were different.
- Uses italics in order to make big points and call certain things to attention
- Zachary said Sunny’s acceptance of the ring was a matter of life or death symbol that foreshadows Zachary’s death (when she rejects the ring, he decides to kill himself)
- Sunny was essentially a symbol for all that Zachary had to repress
- The plum car was a symbol of Zachary’s orientation and suffering and in the end, while the car symbolizes masculinity, it is what killed Zachary
- Zachary showing up under Sunny’s window is an ironic allusion to Romeo and Julietš
Symbols
- Sunny is a symbol for the perfect, all-American girl that everyone loves. Zachary was trying to be as widely accepted as she was and the story even states that he chose Sunny as his “symbol” because at that time it was expected that the boy would marry a pretty girl
- Zachary’s car was a “plum-colored 1956 Plymouth which the other boys envied” – the car symbolized the masculinity Zachary lacked – cars are typically a symbol of male emotions which Zachary did not feel and it is ironic because he was one of the few to have a car – the color purple symbolizes sexual passion and penitential suffering – it is also ironic that the car becomes Zachary’s coffin instead of his way of expressing his sexuality
- Golf is another symbol because even though Zachary was no good at it and didn’t like it at all, he chose it as his sport because it was an acceptable sport for boys to play. This shows how Zachary was forced into ideas and actions he did not personally support
- The clothesline is a symbol whose meaning is up for interpretation because the story does not give it a definite role. It could have been used to force Tobias or Sunny into coming with Zachary or Zachary could have planned to use it to kill himself
5 Key Moments
1. Zachary began to become attached to Sunny, by being near here all the time
2. Zachary asked Sunny to marry him
3. Zachary comes to Sunny’s door and she turns him down.
4. Zachary kills himself
5. Tobias and Sunny met up and discussed Zachary and that night.
2. Zachary asked Sunny to marry him
3. Zachary comes to Sunny’s door and she turns him down.
4. Zachary kills himself
5. Tobias and Sunny met up and discussed Zachary and that night.
Meaning
- Meaning: Pretending to be something you’re not can be destructive.
- Facades destroy
- Zachary was trying to fit in by being something that he wasn't. He took up golf and courted Sunny, while he wasn't very interested in either of them. Zachary ended up killing himself.
- Tobias, on the other hand, didn't pretend to be someone else to try to fit in. While he was somewhat shy about his life choices, he didn't put on some façade to try to fit in, and in the end he wasn't dead.
Literary 3x3
1. Diversity produces conflicts
2. Society pressures outcomes
3. Masks cause destruction
2. Society pressures outcomes
3. Masks cause destruction
Title Significance
- Life After High School is significant because at the end it signifies the end of adolescence for Sunny and introduces her to the adult world of heartache and responsibility.
- Sunny changes her name back to Barbara because Sunny “dies” with Zach, and Barbara resumes the journey that Sunny has prepared.
Themes
- “Living behind masks.” –masked identity
- “Things aren’t always the way they seem.”
- “Innocence fades with age.”