24 John walks alone and
John’s house is too far. Although John refuses Savannah’s offer, she even forces him to go home with Tim.
“Do you want to call him? You can use the phone.” “No, I think I’ll just head out. It’s a long walk.”
“You don’t have a car?” “No. I hitched a ride this morning.”
“Do you want Tim to drive you home? I’m sure he won’t mind.” “No, that’s okay.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You said it was a long walk, right? I’ll have Tim drive you. Let me get him.”
She raced off before I could stop her, and a minute later Tim was following her out of the house. “Tim is happy to take you,” she said,
looking way too pleased herself. pp. 51-52. This is the time when Savannah shows her kindness to John. Savannah
asks John to go to the church with her, but at that time John does not bring any clothes. Immediately, she tells John that she will get John some clothes. She tells
Tim to borrow John some clothes. The way of Savannah’s reaction shows how kind she is.
She gave me the once- over. “Good.” She patted my knee, the second time
she’d touched me. “I’ll get you some clothes.” p. 61.
3. Caring
Savannah shows her characteristic as a caring girl. She cares about people and helps build a couple of houses for people who need them. She becomes a
volunteer of Habitat for Humanity. She is willing to give a hand and help the others who need help. It is shown in this quotation below at her conversation with
John. “A month, actually - but no, it’s not really a vacation. We’re volunteering.
You’ve heard of Habitat for Humanity, right? We’re down here to help build a couple of houses. My family’s been involved with it for years.”
pp. 38.
25 Her care for people can also be seen when she builds houses with her
church since she was sixteen. According to Murphy’s theory past life can be used to describe Savannah’s characteristics. In that age, Savannah has shown her
characteristic as a caring girl. Then, Savannah is off to Chapel Hill, Savannah and Tim make group there. She offers the students to make something different which
is in order to build houses. Savannah and her friends do not get the fee from other people of what she does. Through her statements in this quotation below, it shows
that she prefers to help people build the houses without fee on her summer holiday to doing useless jobs.
“You’ve done this before?” “Every summer since I was sixteen. I used to do it with our church, but
when off to Chapel Hill, we started a group there. Well, actually, Tim started it. He’s from Lenoir, too. He just graduated and he’ll start on his
master’s degree this fall. I’ve known him forever. Instead of spending the summer working odd jobs at home or doing internships, we thought we
could offer students a chance to make a difference. Everyone chips in for the house and pays their own expenses
for the month, and we don’t charge anything for the labor we do on the houses. That’s why it was so important
that I get my bag back. I wouldn’t have been able to eat all month.” p. 38- 39.
Another example of Savannah as a caring girl happens when Savannah
enters the Special Education. From the conversation between Savannah and John, John asks Savannah why she chooses Special Education, because she wants to
help autistic kids. From the quotation below of Savannah’s answer through her past life when she
was a little, she felt so bad because of Alan’s condition. Moreover, she mentions that she has decided to help kids like Alan. It can be seen
that she even cares about the other kids who are autistic like Alan, Tim’s young brother. She has desire to help the autistic kids.
26 “There’s this boy in Lenoir named Alan, and I’ve known him all my life.
He’s autistic, and for a long time no one knew what to do with him or how to get through to him. And it just got me, you know? I felt so bad for him,
even when I was a little.” p. 49.
“Alan’s not perfect by any stretch - he still lives with his parents, and he’ll be on his own
– but he’s not as lost as he was when he was younger, and I just decided that I wanted to be able to help kids like Alan.” p. 50.
This is another quotation of Savannah as a caring girl. The quotation tells
about her interested in curing the autistic kids like Tim does. The author lets the readers recognize Savannah’s kindliness from the way of Savannah thinking. The
quotation below is considered to show that Savannah is very concerned about her planning and expectation to help the autistic kids. She wants to apply the way of
Alan’s and Tim’s experiences to make a good effort for them. From that event, she actually knows what she should do. She wants to open a riding camp as a
facility for autistic kids, where Savannah and Tim can work together with the autistic kids. She prepares a riding camp, so that the other autistic kids can be
happy like Alan does. Her future planning through her statements shows that she cares about autistic kids and she concerns to make a better life for them.
“With autistic kids … it’s like they’re locked into their own little worlds, so usually school and therapy are based on routine. But I want to show
them experie nces that can open new doors for them. I’ve seen it happen. I
mean, Alan was terrified of the horses at first, but his brother kept trying, and after a while, Alan got to the point where he would pat them or rub
their noses, then later even feed them. After that, he started to ride, and I remember watching his face the first time he was up there … it was just so
incredible, you know? I mean, he was smiling, just as happy as a kid could be. And that’s what I want these kids to experience. Just … happiness,
e ven if it’s only for a short while. That’s when I knew exactly what I
wanted to do with my life. Maybe open a riding camp for autistic kids, where we can really work with them. So maybe they can feel that same
happiness that Alan did.” p. 50.
27 Besides caring about the autistic kids and people who need help, she also
cares about pets. She has a gentle old mare named Slocum. Savannah promises her mother that she has to take care of her, feed her, brush her and keep her stall
clean. She also has to take care of the rest of pets. She keeps the pets carefully. While she is growing up, her house is like a farm because she likes to take care of
the pets. She always has compassion feeling to the stray pets. “When I was growing up, our house was kind of like a farm. Dogs, cats,
even a llama for a while. I was a sucker when it came to strays. My parents got to the point where they wouldn’t even argue with me about it. There
were usually four or five at any one time. Sometimes an owner would come, hoping to find a l
ost pet, and he’d leave with one of our recent additions if he couldn’t find it. We were like the pound.” p. 84.
The character of Savannah also can be found out from the conversation
between Savannah and John. The quotation below is taken from Savannah’s
statement. The readers can get the clue of the character of the story in the novel through what the person says. According to Murphy, the way of that
characterization is called speech. In this novel, Savannah shows her caring about concern to the poor. She also has desire to help those in need. Savannah tells that
she spends her Saturday mornings in Raleigh to serve them. She dedicates herself
to the poor without pressure.
“I joined a couple of Christian student groups, I spent Saturday mornings at a shelter in Raleigh serving the poor, and I feel no pressure at all to go
to this or that party or date this or that guy.” p. 87. From this quotation below, it shows how Savannah really cares and wants
to help John in understanding his father. She concerns about John and his father. After meeting his father, she knows that his father might have Asperger’s, a kind
28 of mental disorder syndrome. Savannah finds that John’s father always talks about
coin and does not have a social interaction. Moreover, John’s father does not look
at people when he talks to them. She cares about them. That is why she buys a book about autism and Asperger’s. There are several information in that book, so
that John can understand more about his father’s condition and can make good relation toward his father. The readers may find that Savannah is a caring girl
through her reactions to John by looking at John’s father condition. “There’s more to it that just that,” she said. Her voice was quiet. “I want
you to read it because of your fathe r. And the way you two get along.” p.
140. When she spoke again, her voice trembled. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have
done that. But I just wanted you to understand him.” p. 142. “I was trying to help,” she said, eyes downcast. “I just wanted you to be
able to relate to him.” p. 143. Finally, John can understand his father’s condition. He is successful to
have a good relationship with his father. All of those things are because of Savannah’s action. Her caring makes good result for them. John thanks Savannah
who gives the book to John. “For the book. I think I understand my dad a little better now. We had a good time last night.” p. 161.
Another thing about Savannah’s characteristic as a caring girl can be seen when she follows Tim’s words to take care of his brother, Alan, and do everything
while Tim has got sick. It can be seen in the quotation below. Tim asks Savannah to get Alan a bottle of soda and talk Alan to eat.
“Sweetheart, would you walk with Alan and get him a soda? He hasn’t had anything to drink since earlier this morning. And if you can, maybe
you can talk him into eating.” p. 292.
29 Savannah and Tim have their own problem in life
. Savannah’s problem is she wants to see John who is on duty in the army, whereas John is far away from
Savannah. Tim tries to make her happy and consoles her. Tim has a problem with his brother. Savannah helps Tim to take care of
Alan. From this fact that Savannah behaves, the readers can say that Savannah is kind because she helps Tim and Alan. “I tried to help him, and he tried to help me,
and we both tried to help Alan.” p. 281.
4. Dependent
