Character Analyzed: Stanley Craddock

Major Themes: Identity, Faith, Control, Abandonment

Task: Choose one quote to start with, and write a paragraph in which you analyze the language in the quote, looking for metaphors, resonance and meaning. What is happening in that quote? Do this for several more quotes.  Do you see a pattern?  What are you learning about how the writer is creating meaning?

Quotes:

  • Chapter 1
    • “Everyone laughs when a new man come through quartermaster here… We all were. You just forgot!” (14)
      • Although not necessarily integral in terms of language or analysis, in terms of understanding Stan at his current point in which the project starts, it is important to understand: He initially does not believe Doctor Coogan is doing it out of the goodness of his heart (asks earlier in Chapter about motives), but he is one of the first to embrace the project in a sense.
    • “My story starts in Egypt… I remember all that I’m not supposed to remember…” (18-19)
      • As discussed in the previous class, Stan uses a fair amount of allusions as well as metaphors, especially those pertaining to the Bible. His faith is a defining attribute from the start of his story, but the real question dives deeper into how he arrived here. Naji is often the most iconic when we think of religious elements or presence in the book, but Stan’s story has much to be told. The author is constructing an element of love present.
    • “You’re asking us to write about our lives, who we’ve been and who we want to be. Right?… I don’t know my birthday… I don’t have an identity!”
      • This interesting component instantly introduces us to the struggles that become part of Stanley’s story- his adoption, which likely is accompanied (generally) by fears of abandonment and other features that might have landed him in his lifestyle. His lack of identity, and how even at the start of the project, he is looking for it.
  • CRY – LOST SEVERAL MORE QUOTES