Character Analysis Of Squeaky In Raymond's Run

Anger and Aggressiveness are some of the most tempting emotions in life. When most people feel like you have offended them their main instinct is to defend them and get angry that they would ever think that because they did “nothing”. Sometimes, people can seem mad or even mean for reasons you may not know or understand. Even people who act like this constantly can deep down sometimes be nice and have a reason for their regular meanness. A story by Toni Cade Bambara called “Raymond’s Run” features a girl called Hazel ,known as Squeaky, who appears sassy and hostile. The only thing she thinks that are worthwhile in her life are her brother Raymond and her life as a runner. If anyone tries to hurt Raymond, she would rather knock you down than
Like most people though, Squeaky is not just being mean for the sake of it, she just has to multitask too many hard things. Whenever she sees anything that makes her life any harder, she defends herself as much as possible. Squeaky loves her brother Raymond and needs to take care of him, which takes up a big part of her life. She is also motivated by the fact that her parents will punish her if Raymond gets into trouble, along with the many things her parents expect of her. Squeaky may be a running prodigy, but her parents, especially her mother, think she would be better if she would favor more “girly” activities like dancing and acting. Most people see her as mean, but even her bitterness is only because she does not want more people adding on to things she has to do and have to deal with more things. If Squeaky were to be stripped of caring for her brother and her parents accepted her for who she was, the reader might see her as a very different person. The author, Toni Cade Bambara, uses Squeaky to show how kids and pressure do not mix, teaching the reader a valuable lesson about how people who seem rude and angry have something going on that you do not know