young sales woman comes onto him and asks him to put his money in a worthless stock fund. He does not have stand and lets the woman persuades him. After the
woman gets the money, she goes somewhere far away and leaves a problem for him to explain everything to his wife.
A year after my mother died, I did the dumbest thing I’ve ever do financially. I let a sales woman talk me into an investment scheme. She
was young and good-looking in that confident, breezy, two-buttons-undine fashion that makes an older man feel bitter when she walks past him. Then
he gets stupid. We meet three times to discuss the proposal: twice at her office, once on Greek Restaurant, nothing improper, but by the time her
perfume cleared my head, I’d put most of my savings in a now-worthless stock fund. She quickly got “transferred” to the West Coast. I had to
explain to my wife, Catherine, where them money went p.4-5.
4. Weak
Charley Benneto is a weak person who cannot deal with any disappointment, objection and circumstances that does not feel right for him. He
can desperate easily when he is facing difficulties in his life. Later on, this weak personality makes him turns into a person who always blames others dealing with
the situation he faces rather than trying to find the reason why those bad situations happen.
It is shown several times in his life, starts from the day his parents get divorce he always blames his mother because she does not allow his father to stay.
He only focuses on the result but not the reason why things happen. Just like one night at his ten years old, when he knew that his father comes back but his mother
does not allow his father to stay. “Who was it?” I ask. “Nothing nobody”, she says. But I know she is lying.
I know who it was.
“Come here, Charley.” She holds a handout. I straggle over, my arms at my side. She pulls me in, but I resist. I am angry with her. I will remain
angry with her until the day I leave this house for good. I know who it was. And I am angry that she wouldn’t let my father stay p.93.
From the quotation above, the writer sees that Charley only blames his mother. He does not ask his mother why his father is not allowed to stay. The
worst thing is that this condition he has, later on turns him into an alcoholic.
“…ballplayers in my time always drank-but it became a problem which in time, go me fired from two sales jobs. And getting fired made me keep on
drinking. I slept badly. I ate badly. I seemed to be aging while standing still. When I did find work, I hid mouthwash and eyedrops in my pockets,
darting into bathrooms before meeting clients. Money became a problem; Catherine and I fought constantly about it. And, over time, our marriage
collapsed. She grew tires of my misery and I can’t blame her…” p.5.
From this example, the characterization method applied is the sixth method, reaction.
The loneliest moment in Charley’s life comes when his daughter gets married. As a part of family members especially as a father, he should present in
his daughter’s wedding ceremony. Nevertheless, he should face the fact that his daughter does not invite him p.9. It makes him feels like a threat, a monster and
an isolated person in the family. It is the loneliest moment in his life. He could not even say anything for this moment because of the painful feeling in his heart. He
just realizes that “at that moment, I felt lonelier than I had ever felt before, and that loneliness seemed to squat in my lungs and crush all but my most minimal
breathing. There was nothing left to say. Not about this. Not about anything” p.10.
The painful feeling of being lonely finally leads Charley into the decision to kill himself. He cannot think anymore. It is just simple, if God does not take his
life than he can give it with his own way. Charley still remembers the time he decides to end his life. He says, “The city was quiet, the light blinking yellow, and
I was going to end my life where I began it. Blundering back to God. Simple as that” p.11.
He chooses his old town in Pepperville Beach to end his life because it is where he starts his life and he wants to end it there, too. The he drives his car and
gets drunk for the last time before he dies. After he gets drunk, he rides his car fast and suddenly hits the truck with a hard crash. He falls down from the car
because of the hit. Different thing happens, however, he is still alive. He does not know why it happens. “I can’t explain it. When you want to die, you are spared.
Who can explain it?” p.14-15. He continues his journey to death on foot to his town. He finds the second
chance to end his life in Pepperville Beach. He attempts to end his life by hurling himself after he thinks nobody misses him in his daughter’s wedding party. He
still has a short memory flash about his daughter. However, it cannot prohibit him from the decision to die.
The sky was lightening. The crickets grew louder. I had a sudden memory flash of little Maria asleep on my chest when she was small enough to
cradle in one arm, her skin smelling a talcum powder. Then I had a vision of me, wet and filthy as I was now, bursting into her wedding, the music
stopping, everyone looking up horrified, Maria the most horrified at all. I lowered my head.
I would not be missed. I took two running steps, grabbed the railing, and hurled myself p.17.
From the explanation above, the writer can see that Charley is so depressed although he is in his unconscious state. This part uses the third and
sixth method of characterization theory which is speech and reaction.
5. Ambitious
