Animal Dreams Character Comparison
James Kern
Comparison Paper
English 3A
27 October 2012
Codi vs. Hallie
In the book Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver Codi and Hallie are sisters who are very much alike physically. They differ greatly when it comes to personality. They both grew up with the same parent situation, raised the same, and yet they are two completely different people. Most of the similarities between them are physical, which is obvious because they are sisters. The way Codi and Hallie were raised, greatly affected who they became. What separated the two sisters is how each of them viewed their childhood, and how it built their character. The biggest difference between Codi and Hallie is their personality. Codi says, “I am the sister who didn’t go to war. I can only tell you my side of the story. Hallie is the one who went south, with her pickup truck and her crop-disease books and her heart dead set on a new world.” (page 7). With this, the reader learns that Codi is more on the conservative side. She doesn’t like taking big risk. Codi is not someone who would just take a leap of faith and go for it. Hallie however is the complete opposite. Hallie is a risk taker who lives off of adventure. She is going to a 3rd world country to help people she doesn’t know. Going to Nicaragua shows exactly what kind of person Hallie is. When growing up, Doc Homer wasn’t the greatest father. He loved his daughter to death, but didn’t really show it because he was never there for them. This played a huge role on Codi and Hallie’s adulthood. When Codi starts teaching she thinks to herself I had to keep remind myself:” None of them knows you as Doc Homer’s misfit child” (page 81) This hints at the kind of relationship Codi had with her father as a child. As an adult Codi feels that she needs a man in her life to satisfy her loneliness. She looks to men to give her a sense of belonging, and help guide her through her life. The two characters in the book that play this role were Carlo and
Comparison Paper
English 3A
27 October 2012
Codi vs. Hallie
In the book Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver Codi and Hallie are sisters who are very much alike physically. They differ greatly when it comes to personality. They both grew up with the same parent situation, raised the same, and yet they are two completely different people. Most of the similarities between them are physical, which is obvious because they are sisters. The way Codi and Hallie were raised, greatly affected who they became. What separated the two sisters is how each of them viewed their childhood, and how it built their character. The biggest difference between Codi and Hallie is their personality. Codi says, “I am the sister who didn’t go to war. I can only tell you my side of the story. Hallie is the one who went south, with her pickup truck and her crop-disease books and her heart dead set on a new world.” (page 7). With this, the reader learns that Codi is more on the conservative side. She doesn’t like taking big risk. Codi is not someone who would just take a leap of faith and go for it. Hallie however is the complete opposite. Hallie is a risk taker who lives off of adventure. She is going to a 3rd world country to help people she doesn’t know. Going to Nicaragua shows exactly what kind of person Hallie is. When growing up, Doc Homer wasn’t the greatest father. He loved his daughter to death, but didn’t really show it because he was never there for them. This played a huge role on Codi and Hallie’s adulthood. When Codi starts teaching she thinks to herself I had to keep remind myself:” None of them knows you as Doc Homer’s misfit child” (page 81) This hints at the kind of relationship Codi had with her father as a child. As an adult Codi feels that she needs a man in her life to satisfy her loneliness. She looks to men to give her a sense of belonging, and help guide her through her life. The two characters in the book that play this role were Carlo and