27 pages • 54 minutes read
So What Are You, Anyway?
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Character Analysis
Carole
Carole is a dynamic protagonist, and the narrator traces her external and internal experiences in third person limited over the course of the short story. Because the narrator is inhabiting Carole’s consciousness, the story’s central tensions, stakes, and resulting thematic explorations all originate from Carole’s evolving outlook on herself and the world around her.
At the outset of the short story, Carole’s scope of understanding is limited by her young age and innocence. For these reasons, when she leaves the Toronto airport and sets out on her journey to go and visit her grandparents, her greatest concerns are the comfortability of her seat and the wellbeing of her doll, Amy. The images of Carole examining herself in her mirror in the story’s first paragraph effectively reveal Carole’s innocent regard for herself. She does not scrutinize her appearance, but rather takes pride in it. She sees herself as someone with “dark eyes,” a “handful of freckles,” and a “clear complexion” (Paragraph 1). These facets of Carole’s appearance only remind her of her father’s affectionate description of her: “milk milk milk milk chocolate” (Paragraph 1). Carole therefore has no sense that her looks have any bearing on her identity or her circumstances.
As the story progresses, however, Carole’s character is forced out of her innocence and into a world defined by racism, prejudice, and bigotry. In particular, Carole’s involuntary interactions with Betty and Henry Norton gradually influence the way that she sees and understands herself. Although she doesn’t understand what Henry asks of her when he demands to know what race she is, Carole “senses that the man is asking a bad question,” as his words make her feel “he is asking her something dirty, or touching her in a bad place” (Paragraph 51). The descriptive and metaphoric language employed in this paragraph captures the Nortons’ impact on Carole’s consciousness and thus on her character arc. The Nortons are tainting Carole’s self-regard. They force Carole to change the way she sees and thinks, as they are imposing social constructs on her.
Although Carole attempts to defend herself against the Nortons, her character ultimately proves incapable of recapturing the innocence with which she boarded the plane. She wants to be able to cocoon herself in the comforting world the stewardess offers her, defined by her own special seat and “special drink” (Paragraph 92). However, the prejudiced ideas the Nortons have inflicted upon her promise to define Carole’s life for the foreseeable future. The author suggests via his abrupt, ambiguous ending, that once she leaves the plane, Carole will have to navigate the social hostilities to which she has just been rudely introduced.
Mr. Henry Norton
Mr. Henry Norton is an antagonist who inspires much of the narrative tension throughout the short story. Prior to Henry’s introduction, Carole’s character feels no active sense of fear or danger. However, as soon as the narrator introduces Henry in the short story’s second paragraph, the atmosphere of Carole’s world becomes more hostile. In order to convey the essence of Henry’s character and his forthcoming influence over Carole, the author uses descriptive language and symbolic imagery. When Henry first appears on the page, the narrator depicts him “holding her doll upside down” (Paragraph 2). The image of the upturned doll in Henry’s hand foreshadows the cruelty and bigotry that he will show to Carole throughout the following pages.
Although Henry has no connection to Carole beyond their adjacent seats on the plane, he repeatedly unsettles Carole’s state of mind, keeping her from traveling in peace. The author uses Henry’s character as a narrative device. Henry causes the narrative atmosphere to intensify: Carole is forced to feel unsafe and unsure of herself, and she is involuntarily thrust into a crude socio-political awakening.
In spite of Henry’s wife’s initial attempts to quell his hostility, Henry proves to be a determined, entitled individual, set on intimidating and belittling a little girl. The ways in which he treats Carole over the course of their flight together are micro representations of racism and prejudice in American and Canadian culture, and thus on a macro scale.
Mrs. Betty Norton
Mrs. Betty Norton is another antagonist whose behaviors actively unsettle the protagonist’s external and internal worlds. Much like her husband Henry, Betty is a static character who does not evolve over the course of the story. For example, in the early pages of the narrative, Betty attempts to keep her husband from antagonizing Carole. She not only tells Henry to “Give that doll back” to Carole, but also assures Carole not to mind her husband (Paragraph 6). In this section, she is attempting to gain Carole’s trust, posing as a friendly, harmless seatmate. In spite of Betty’s outwardly positive presentation at the story’s start, as soon as Carole falls asleep, Betty’s tenor changes. In a side conversation with her husband, Betty says of children like Carole, “I don’t mind them mixed, but the world isn’t ready for it. They’re neither one thing nor the other” (Paragraph 35). This is a statement that she did not voice in front of Carole, but what she willingly vocalizes aloud to Carole lives in stark contrast with what she communicates to her husband.
Much like Henry’s character, Hill uses Betty’s character to disrupt both Carole’s physical world and her state of mind. Betty’s bigoted viewpoints pose active threats to Carole’s wellbeing and to her identity. In many ways, Betty’s character is more nuanced than Henry’s. This is because Betty is a woman of contradiction; she vacillates between contrasting ideas and declarations throughout the story. In one moment, for example, she tells Henry to let Carole use the bathroom because she is “only a child,” while a moment later she demands that Carole tell her what color she would “make [her] Dad” if she “had a coloring book” (Paragraphs 37, 56). Betty’s dichotomous behaviors make it difficult for Carole to perceive and understand her motives. Betty poses as a nonthreatening, well-intentioned individual. However, over the course of the flight, her words and actions prove that she holds harmful opinions.
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