Character in Love in L.A.

Fiction Response When reading the short story “Love in L.A.” by Dagoberta Gilb most readers will notice the importance of the characters and how they shape the outcome of the story. This story is truly character driven, meaning the plot relies on the characters, which makes it a very powerful literary element in this case. Jake, the protagonist of the fictional piece, can easily be envisioned as a young man with a carefree attitude who does not really care much about other people and their situations. One can tell Jake is definitely a pretty young man due to some of the things he daydreams about at the beginning of the story and the fact that he is daydreaming instead of paying attention to the road. Some of these thoughts include the brief idea of getting a steady job and his fantasies regarding his lifestyle (Gilb, 113). His carefree attitude can be seen through his dialogue with Mariana after the accident with remarks such as “So how ya doing? Any damage to the car? I’m kinda hoping so, just so it takes a little more time and we can talk some. Or else you can give me your phone number now and I won’t have to lay my regular b.s. on you to get it later.” (Gilb, 114) Even though Jake has just been in a car accident he was at fault for that could have severely injured someone he still has the idea of flirting with one of the other drivers involved. Jake is also the kind of guy who prefers to stay out of trouble for his own sake and his wallet’s, which is why he gives Mariana false information and uses license plates from scrapped cars in order to avoid paying for things he doesn’t want to pay for (Gilb, 114-115). Jake’s young, carefree attitude is seen again after he drives off from the accident with him instantly going back to fantasizing about making his car awesome without a single worry about what just happened (Gilb 115).

With all of this in mind, Jake’s actions in the story shouldn’t surprise anyone. If Jake had been daydreaming about one day having a