Change, Growth, and Development of Wing Biddlebaum/Adolph Myer and Kacem

Characters are the most important aspect of any literature since their roles results in the development of the plot and define the genre of the work. Therefore, the changes that the characters undergo from the beginning of the book towards the end. These changes include transformation in the mind-set, disposition, perceptions and general conception of contemporary issues. Focusing on the two stories, "Hands" by Sherwood Anderson and "the Canebrake' 'by Mohammed Mrabet, the paper set to discuss the character and characterization of two characters Wing Biddlebaum/Adolph Myer and Kasem's wife.

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The two authors use different characterization techniques to introduce the characters. Sherwood Anderson in his text uses physical quality to describe Wing Biddlebaum for the first time. The author describes him as a fat old man, nervously pacing near the wines burg town, Ohio (Anderson 1). The reader gets an idea of how the man in question looks. Mohammed Mrabet, on the other hand, uses action as an introduction technique. He talks of the daily afternoon meetings of Kacem and his friend Stito at a cafe for a drink and smoke pointing out to Kasem's wife who is always locked up at home (Mrabet 1). From the actions as depicted from the introduction, the reader can predict the character's lifestyle.

Wing Biddlebaum/Adolph Myer is the protagonist in "Hands." He is the center of the story with every aspect revolving around him from the start to the end.In "the Canebrake' 'however, Kasem's wife is depicted as the main character, acting as the pivot point between the other characters such as Kacem and his friend. The protagonist and the main character are more or less the same in the sense that they shape and fine-tune the story. Both the characters are dynamic in the sense that they change and develop from the beginning of the story to the end.

Pointing out the character development of Kasem's wife throughout the story, several changes can be noted from the start of the story to the end. The story starts with a description of her as someone who is always locked up whenever the drunkard husband goes to meet his friend. Kasem's wife had a routine of preparing meals for Kasem and Stito whenever they came back (Mrabet 1). She would always see Stito out after her husband had gotten drunk. Kasem's wife is seen complaining and crying that Kacem had not loved her since they wed. The story in the start portrays Kasem's wife as a woman who does not only lack physical freedom but is also denied her conjugal rights. She proves to have a mindset of submission in her duties to her husband and his friend.

Kasem's wife first change comes about when instead of showing Stito out, she pointed to the canebrakes. For the first time, the character decides to teach her husband a lesson by proving to him that she can misbehave even if she is locked up. From the mindset of being submissive, she is now deviant. The next change occurs the following day when Kacem's wife is left free, and she can go to Hamman. It is still on the same day that the character holds a meaningful conversation with her husband upon his return. Kasem's wife became more confident and therefore needed not to take advantage of Stito's presence to talk to her husband. The final and the most critical change occurs when her husband returns home sober, promises never to lock her up and for the first time in a long time, they played games together (Mrabet 3).

Wing Biddlebaum/Adolph Myer character also depicted several changes as the story moved to the end. The story, however, starts from the end. Wing Biddlebaum uses his hands to caress the face of his friend, a young boy known as George. The act pricks a horrifying memory on the mind of the old man who gives a scary look afterward (Anderson 4). From this scene, the story provides a throwback, making the reader understand the changes which the character has registered throughout the story. It is at this point that we get to realize that Wing Biddlebaum was initially known as Adolph Myer.

Adolph Myer was a teacher in a boys' school in Pennsylvania. With tenderness, he natured the boys, and they all adored him. With the hope of passing on his dreams to the boys, he stroked and caressed the hair of the boys. He had a passionate mindset. The first change occurred when a boy from the school accused the protagonist of hernias act of sexual stimulation (Anderson 5). The significant change, however, happened when a man came to the school and started beating the schoolmaster to the point of him being driven out of Pennsylvania. He then moved to Wines burg and stayed with her aunt in the town where he got a new name and where his once trouble causing hands made him famous. From the nurturing mindset, the man now thought of his hands as the cause of all his troubles.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is right to note that the two characters Kacem's wife and Wing Biddlebaum/Adolph Myer played critical roles in the build-up of the two stories "the Canebrake" and ''Hands'' respectively. The two characters created the focal points in the two works of literature and provided the smooth flow of each storyline. They both are associated with different changes as the stories flow from beginning to the end. The authors Mohammed Mrabet and Sherwood Anderson effectively used the characterization techniques to introduce the two principal characters from the two stories.

Works Cited

Anderson, Sherwood. "Hands." The Longman Masters: of Short Fiction edited by Dana Gioia R.S. Gwynn, 1st edition, Pearson Publishers, 2001, pp. 1-7.

Mrabet, Mohammed. "The Canebrake." The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories edited by Daniel Halpern, Penguin Books,1999, pp. 1-3.