Characters

The most important character in the short story “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov is Margie, who is also the main character whose perspective the narrator follows. Secondary characters are Tommy, Mrs. Jones and the County Inspector, which we will only briefly outline.

Margie Jones

Margie Jones is an eleven-year-old girl (p. 5, l. 15) living in 2155. Except for this information, nothing much is revealed about the girl’s outer characterization. We also know that she is homeschooled by a mechanical teacher and that she has a friend named Tommy.

Inner characterization

Margie’s inner characterization is revealed through her actions and her attitude towards school in her time and the past.

The fact that Margie has a diary in which she writes about finding a ‘real book’ (p. 5, l. 2) indicates the event had a strong impact on her. From her conversation with Tommy about the book and school in the past, Margie comes across as naive, having little knowledge about the way school was in the past, and very mistrustful.

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Tommy

Tommy is Margie’s friend, who is older than her, being thirteen years old (p. 5, l. 16). He comes across as smarter than the little girl because he has seen more telebooks (p. 5, ll. 15-16) and because he has more knowledge about how school was “centuries ago” (p. 6, l. 24).

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Moreover, we present you the characteristics of Mrs. Jones and the County Inspector.