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3. Sensitive
Apart from the innocence and indifference towards his own appearance, Luke is actually a type of sensitive person. His attitude and manner
conversely show his sentimentality, which differs from other boys in general who seem to be apathetic in perceiving their own feeling.
Such “bad label” he acquires from the people living surrounds him, including his family, peers, and teachers, has unconsciously been adhered to his
mind. It substantially brings his feeling to be easily offended thus. Consequently, what other people say and how they react to him seem to be firmly stuck to his
head all the time. When he went to bed he couldn’t get to sleep because the whirligig
started, all those numbers spinning round in his head, and faces too, Dad’s face turned away from him, Mum’s face looking frightened,
Stringer’s black moustache jerking upwards on the word ‘expulsion’ 60-61.
As a matter of fact, the one who gives much strong and deep impact towards Luke’s mental attitude is Dan, his dad. Dan Leman has been the most
influential person in Luke’s life ever since, and he is the one to whom Luke puts his biggest fear and proper respect.
Luke’s gaze slid downward to the bag he’d chucked there on the floor. Chucked. Sometimes a single word could bring things rushing back;
and Dad’s voice rushed in on him now, Dad’s voice shouting, “You chuck everything back in our faces” 10.
For Dan, Luke’s education is one crucial thing he mostly concerns about as it much determines his son’s future life and carrier later. Luke’s failure
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and his being such trouble-maker at school have eventually led him to a great anger and disappointment, which circumstantially shapes the figure of Luke as a
sensitive adolescent. His dad’s blame towards Luke for ruining his bloody life, the word ‘scrapheap’ which represents the image of his future as a mountain of
rubbish, and his bad record as a trouble maker kid echo over and over in Luke’s mind 14, 19, 151.
Getting along with the social pressures Luke experiences day by day, the effect goes much deeper into his psychological life as well. His sensitivity
thus creates such mental attitude called self-awareness, which makes him aware of his own self; everything he thinks of, he feels, or even he does.
Luke had changed himself, he knew…. He’d been solid back then. Now he was all bits and pieces; worries and doubts and fears and little
hopes all jumbled together, like bits of a puzzle rattling round inside a box 11.
Luke’s self-awareness is more visible as he recalls his mischief towards a strict teacher named Gosser in St. Crispin, his previous school from which he has been
expelled. Luke is getting realized that what he did is merely a silly thing 137. In conclusion, then, through his thoughts, reactions, and past life, it
can be assumed that Luke is a sensitive person. The way he realizes the mistakes he ever does shows that Luke also has such a good self-awareness despite his
sensitivity as an adolescent.
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4. Attentive
Being indifferent towards his physical look does not necessarily shape Luke’s personality to be egoistic or have no care of others. The way he is grown
up as a child who is lack of love and care from his parents does not build him to be likewise. On the contrary, Luke is perceived to be an attentive person. He likes
to pay attention to others and he does really care about the people he loves, such as friends and family.
Luke’s care about his friends is shown by his mind and attitude towards Alex and Caroline. Alex has been his best mate back in Primary School.
Though they have never met for years, Luke seems to frequently think of him, recalling the time when they used to hang out together as for him, Alex is the only
friend who can understand him and has the same way of thinking as him 8, 11. Different from Alex, Caroline is Luke’s girl friend. Actually, their relationship
does not go well due to several things, yet Luke loves and cares about her still. Caro is the one to whom he always wants to talk about his problems, and he
knows lots of things about her 38. The other ones to whom Luke also gives attention is his family; his
parents and his two younger sisters. Luke’s care about Naomi, his youngest sister, can be seen from the way he takes care of her. One day as she gets nightmare,
Luke calms her down and gives her accompany till she goes back to sleep 91. He also helps ‘Queen of the Stars’, the name he used to call Naomi, when Mum
once accuses her of doing something naughty 156. While Luke’s being strict in
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