Characterization of the narrator

The main character of the short story “The Shape of a Star” by Jen Knox is the young woman, who is also the story’s narrator. Although absent during the time of the narrative, the young woman’s mother is a very important character who has had a great impact on her daughter’s life. The woman, Estelle, only appears in the young woman’s memories and flashbacks, but her description is very detailed and complex, just as her personality.

Other characters such as Jimmy, Jimmy’s fiancée or the young bearded man are secondary and they do not influence the story in any way. This is why we will only focus on the narrator and Estelle when it comes to characterization.

Outer characterization

Her outer characterization reveals that she is a student (l. 32) who intends “majoring in robotics engineering” (l. 33).

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Inner characterization

The young woman’s inner characterization reveals that she has deep-rooted issues regarding her mother, Estelle. When she was a young girl, her mother used to analyze her like an experiment every year, to see if she fitted the standards imposed by a questionnaire in a magazine:

I was four when she read an article in American Mothers Magazine entitled, “How to Tell Your Child Is Slow.” The article included a questionnaire at the end that she ripped out and retook every year until I turned thirteen. (ll. 37-39)

Because the narrator seemed to be under-developed in “the areas of language, focus and socialization” (l. 41), her mother continued to experiment on her by placing her in uncomfortable situations that could make her open up and socialize:

She gave me exercises that she probably found in the same magazine to remedy my slow areas of development. One such exercise included going to the mall and striking up conversations with all of the salespeople we came in contact with. She insisted that I talk to each person until I had one personal tidbit to share with her. (ll. 42-45)

Though she is currently able to socialize in a healthy way, the young woman refuses to place this success on her mother’s experiments.

The woman’s childhood continued to be influenced by Estelle, who could never understand her daughter’s passion for sciences:

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