Jean Stafford's Bad Characters, is a story of the loneliness of Emily
Vanderpool, a young girl experiencing extreme growing painsâ€"growing pains
that are illustrated by three detailed character traits.
Emily's first and most important character trait in the story
is unquestionably her loneliness. It is this loneliness that underscores
the effect "peer pressure" has on her, and it is a loneliness that she
illustrates in her description of her cat as her only friend. Further, her
belief that she had "already alienated everyone she knew," clearly shows
Emily's second character trait is her gullibility. She is not only
extremely impressionable (as a result of her immaturity and her
loneliness), but is almost completely blind to the motivation of others.
This fact is shown in her dealings with Lottie, the fact that she liked her
simply because she referred to her in a friendly way as "kid," and in her
willingness to "lift" items from a store in order to be her friend.
Finally, Emily's third character trait is her willingness to be
manipulative. This trait is clearly illustrated in her willingness to make
her mother feel guilty for complaining about the stolen cake, saying, "I
suppose you wish I had gone out in the kitchen and let the robber cut me up
into a million little tiny pieces," by threatening to kill herself (to stop
her parents from arguing), and by throwing tantrums.
In the story, the reader gets to know Emily as a very troubled person,
one who is disturbed by the pressures of "fitting in" and finding her place
in the world. It is under these pressures that Emily's specific character
traits come to the surfaceâ€"traits of loneliness, gullibility, and
willingness to manipulate othersâ€"and it is these traits that form the basis
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