Characters of Bless the Beasts and the Children :: essays research papers

Bless the Beasts and the Children is a book about six naà ¯ve, immature boys who are sent away from their parents to The Boys Canyon Boys Camp where they are known as the 'Bed Wetters' and are considered the outcasts. Glendon Swarthout uses symbolism to show weakness and vulnerability in the characters and to fulfill the purpose of the novel. The radios symbolize the fear that the boys experience, at the beginning of the novel each one of the bedwetters has their radio going full blast. They use the radios when they are scared, like at night before they go to sleep to comfort them. The boys are neglected by their parents and the radios make them feel that something is there for them when they are afraid because their parents never are. My first character is Lally 2, a quiet insecure eleven year old boy. His parents neglect him and his brother doesn?t care about him and he gets a feeling of hopelessness and loneliness. He has low self esteem because of his parents absence in his life, but he shows a lot of compassion to others. He turns to the Ooms, creatures in the sauna, for comfort, he feels that they are the only ones he can talk to and trust. When he is at camp, he runs away and takes his radio with him so that he doesn?t feel alone. My second character is Laurence Teft, a shy, scrawny defiant fourteen-year-old boy. Teft is overwhelmed by his parents high standards for him that he seems to almost always fail to meet. He feels as though he is always disappointing his parents and becomes very angry, then he expresses his frustration violently. He is starved for attention, even if it is negative attention, and breaks the rules to get it, his criminal behavior ends up helping the bedwetters in their scheme. My third character is Sammy Shecker, the son of a rich and famous New York comedian. Shecker is unsatisfied living in his father?s shadow and thinks that if he is funny like his father, he will be accepted amongst his peer, so he unsuccessfully tries to be humorous to hide his inner pain.