Outside Reading Post. Numero Un.

The main characters in my novel, The Probable Future written by Alice Hoffman, are quite varied from each other. They all strive for different things: better family relationships, a way to change things already said and done, or even save a loved one from a fate they did not deserve. The protagonists are mostly women, all from a different generation of the same family. Granddaughter, mother, and grandmother. Stella, from the youngest generation, has just turned thirteen and has discovered that she has the unfortunate ability to see how a person will die. Jenny, the mother and daughter, is recently divorced and has a dwindling relationship with her daughter, and her relationship with her mother isn't great either. She also has an interesting power, she can see peoples' dreams as they are dreaming them. Elinor, the grandmother and mother, is aging and still living in the same house as the rest of the Sparrow women had for years. She has the undeniable ability to smell a lie the moment it is spoken. She wants to bring Stella closer to her, and make her alienate her mother. The main guy role is taken by Stella's father, Will Avery. He has an incredible amount of care and support for his daughter. He tends to lie quite often, and he is the kind of person who always seems to let you down. Despite his seemingly imperfect personality, he always tries his hardest to come through for Stella when she needs him most.
Back to the youngest of the characters, Stella has the strong urge to rebel against her mother's strict wishes. As Stella pulled the braids out of her hair, she thinks, "Anyway, braids were worn by the kind of girl her mother wished her to be, the sort who wore pink sweaters and was voted class president, who excelled in after-school activities, from the drama club to the Mathletes. Clearly, that was not the sort of girl Stella happened to be" (Hoffman 33). She wants to break away from her mother, and she wants to be independent. She feels as if her mom would never be able to understand her, and according the rules and ways she treats Stella, she obviously doesn't. As for Will, the "careless and self-centered" dad that he admitts he is, is somehow much more important in Stella's life, and she looks up to him much more than she does her mother (Hoffman 40). When Stella tells him that they are going to dinner without her mom, he accepts willingly, "Will was certainly agreeable to a maneuver such as this. It was of course of action he understood quite well...he'd done the exact same thing" (Hoffman 41). Throughout the beginning of my novel, we see that all of the characters strive for different things. Will clearly strives to improve his way of life, filled with lies and disappointment. Stella wants to break free and make her own decisions on her own accord, even though that is quite far-fetched for a thirteen-year-old with the power to see how people die. Instead of "Nothing Jenny did seemed right," Jenny wanted to do things right (Hoffman 26). She wanted to be friends with Stella, and she wanted them to accept each other and let go of their differences. Although they have many differences, and they struggle to survive with each other, they continue to go on with their lives, and take each day one at a time.