A Bridge To Wiseman’s Cove By James Moloney

662 Words3 Pages
Carl is a major character in the novel A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove by James Moloney. Carl is a fifteen year old chubby boy; he has a brother and a sister. His brother’s name is Harley and he is ten years old. Carl’s sister’s name is Sarah and she is nineteen years old. Carl doesn’t know who his father is. He only knows his name, which is Gallop. Carl thinks he has a memory of his father’s face. He lives with his mother Kerry, but most the time when its school holidays he is sent to his auntie Beryl’s house. Carl is not fond of auntie Beryl because she is cold, rude and abrupt to almost everybody. Carl isn’t the most confident and mature boy, he is very awkward and shy. Early in the novel Carl is not confident, he is very shy and weak. Carl is like this because he didn’t know who his father was, his mother never pays any attention to him, and he never knows where she is which makes him worry a lot. Carl is often shifted to his Auntie Beryl’s house which she doesn’t treat him with respect or kindness. “Who would love you if your own mother doesn’t?” Therefore Carl has a very low self-esteem and he feels very abandoned and lonely. He also feels that his mother did not love him and that he is in her way of doing what she wants to do. He is a very sad, lonely and confused fifteen year old teenager. Slowly we see Carl standing up for himself and his brother Harley. At one stage of the novel Carl comes back to auntie Beryl’s house to see Harley chained up in her living room. Carl was absolutely furious, even though he knew what he did which was to steal chips and lollies from the store. This episode triggered Carl to stand up for Harley “It was cruel Beryl. You wouldn’t do that to a dog.” This act was his very first leap of confidence. In ‘The Curse of the Matts Part II’, we see Carl using a bit more courage and confidence by speaking up for himself because auntie

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