The Character Analysis Of People-Watching By Julia Gray

Recovering from grief is a journey; there is no straight line and no explicit path to walk. Recovery is a different journey for everyone. One day it might seem like you will never get over it, and the next day you are a step closer to breathing properly again without the weight of your sorrow weighing your chest down. This is the theme in the short story “People-Watching” by Julia Gray from 2014.
This essay will examine the way the story is structured and how the author has used symbols in the story. This essay will also focus on the main character and his development.
The main character in “People-Watching” is still recovering from the loss of his sister when he meets a girl who is unknowingly able to help him move past his grief. The main character in “People-Watching” is a man named Paul, who is studying to be an architect. He is very straightforward and seems apathetic in what he is doing; Paul is fond of artificial structures but struggles with the more human aspects of life and tends to be more analytical. Pauls’ sister had trouble beating an eating disorder and by the time she had beaten it, she went to Thailand with a friend. Paul and the family got worried when they
In the beginning of the story, he could not draw portraits and had not done so in many years, but after being confronted with the last place, he saw his sister alive and the need to draw something from the train platform. He draws her and finally seems to acknowledge the fact that she is dead and nothing he can do will change that. The story’s flashbacks introduce us to the person and the events that have affected Pauls’ life so much in the following years. The authors’ use of symbolic objects lets the reader see how the situation changes Pauls’ life in the way that he can finally truly let go of Turtle and not let her death hold him