27 as seen by another, speech, past life, conversations of others, reactions, direct
comments, thoughts, and mannerisms. Sheila’s character is analyzed as being :
1. Sadist
Sheila was a sadist girl. At the age of six, Sheila almost killed a three-year- old boy. Sheila also committed a crime. She kidnapped and burned a boy. Sheila
was punished by the court for her behavior. Sheila was placed in a behavioral and emotional school until the unit for children had been opened in the state hospital.
Sheila’s sadistic character was seen by Torey who read a column in a newspaper about the incident of killing a boy: “It told of a six-year-old girl who had abducted
a neighborhood child. On that cold November evening, she had taken the three- year-old boy, tied him to a tree in a nearby woodlot and burned him.” 4
Sheila behaved badly. She had absolute and unrestricted passion to control over a living being, an animal, and a child. Her passion also expressed through
things or objects. She burned the migrant camp where she lived and she smeared feces in the restroom of a bus station. Sheila dealt with the police three times: “In
addition to the burning incident, she had been reprimanded for setting fires in the migrant camp and for smearing feces in the restroom of a bus station. By six-and-
a half, Sheila had encountered the police three times.” 33. On the first day of school, Sheila did something sadistic. Sheila felt
uncomfortable with the new situation, so she started to terrorize the class. Sheila gouged the goldfishes’ eyes. This terror caused the class to become chaotic. A lot
of students cried and screamed seeing Sheila hurt the students’ pets.
28 Sheila stood defiantly on a chair by the aquarium. She had apparently
caught the goldfish one by one and poke their eyes out with a pencil. Seven or eight of the fish lay flopping desperately on the floor around the
chair, their eyes destroyed. Sheila clutched one tightly in her right fist and stood poised threateningly with the pencil in the other. 37
In conclusion, Sheila was a sadist. Sheila caused chaos in her neighborhood and school. The terror that she caused was dangerous. She was just
a six- year-old but she could injury a three-year-old boy, kill the goldfish and damage public facilities. Sheila was a sadist young girl because she caused lots of
terrible problems and terrorized others. According to the nine methods of characterization proposed by Murphy
161-173, Sheila’s character can be observed through her past life and reactions. Sheila’s past life was known by Torey who read the newspaper article about the
incident with the young boy. Torey also read Sheila’s file on the first day Sheila came to school. The reaction of gouging the goldfish eyes was clearly describes
Sheila as a sadist.
2. Uncontrolled
