Touching Bottom Character Analysis

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Touching Bottom As defined in the dictionary, a hero is a person who is admired for courage and noble qualities. In order to have a successful story there must be a successful hero. Not necessarily a successful hero within the story but successful by leaving a strong memorable message and image of him/herself in the minds of the audience. In Kari Strutt’s short story Touching Bottom the female protagonist happens to be a successful hero both within the story and within the minds of the readers as she digs deep and faces her fears to come up a rising hero. She is presented as successful because of her own strengths but also because of the affect that the secondary characters have. Secondary characters have a major impact on the decisions,…show more content…
In this story Touching Bottom by Kari Strutt, the evolution from an ordinary girl to an extraordinary hero can be easily identified. From the beginning of the story, the central character already shows qualities of a hero as she fights off her fear of opening her eyes underwater. She states “I was afraid, but I ducked my head into the half-full white tub. I opened my eyes, then came up sputtering.”(Strutt 124) Right from the beginning when she is attempting to open her eyes under water, she puts aside her fears to get the job done. Despite that fact that it is on a smaller scale, the action still shows a possession of heroic traits. Later on our hero goes on to join…show more content…
After she “…finished all of the Red Cross lessons…” she joins the swim club and learns how to race. (Strutt 125) “I trained every day, back and forth in the pool…when I turned fourteen I trained twice a day, every morning at five-thirty and every evening at five.” (Strutt 125) A little older but still fairly young and she continues to demonstrate signs of strength and perseverance to accomplish what she wants. As she grows older and gets married to a man with a son, she takes the boy in as her own. On a family trip to the beach her step-son Ian is frantic about swimming in the ocean. “I didn’t really want to go because of the kind of water it was. Murky. I said yes anyways.” (Strutt 126) Despite her fear of unclear murky water from previous experiences, she puts everything aside and goes in to allow Ian the enjoyment that he was seeking and to protect him at the same time even though he is not her own son. Finally, as she and her step-son Ian get sucked deeper and deeper out into the ocean by wild currents, as her husband is becoming flirtatious with another female on shore disregarding his wife and his son, she digs deep, puts aside her fears, remembers what she learned as a swimmer and is able to save herself and Ian as well. By being able to save herself and her step-son it is evident that she is a hero within the story. Also by sending the audience the message that in order to accomplish a goal, fear must be a factor that should be overcome and with

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