Harry Hands/Hinds

Harry's outer characterization reveals that, as a teenager, he came from “somewhere back East” to Douglas’ school. Harry’s surname was originally “Hands” which created the context for his classmates to bully him by calling him ‘hairy hands’.

As a 54-year-old adult, Harry is a successful business man, owning a building and a company called “HARRY HINDS AND ASSOCIATES” (l. 141). His physical appearance is also described in “The Highest Branch on the Tr…

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Inner characterization

Harry’s inner characterization as a teenager in 1934 is conveyed by the narrator directly.

According to the narrator’s description, Harry was “smarter than anyone else in the whole school” (l. 56) which also made him “arrogant and smart-ass, looking down his nose at us dumb peasants” (ll. 5-6). Although he was picked on by his classmates, Harry’s attitude reveals that he considered himself superior to them: “flaunted his IQ from the first hour of day one” (ll. 61-62); “…he forgot nothing and would offer data if someone paused, stuttered, or broke wind.” (ll. 81-83). Furthermore, he did his homework in class rather than taking it home, and “…sat there, mightily pleased with his intellectual strengths….” (ll. 88-89).

The narrator also believes that, as a teenager, Harry was good at sports: “… here came Harry Hands, fresh as a potted daisy, jogging along nice and easy, passing us and adding another lap…” (ll. 73-75). However, the story later reveals that Harry cheated in gym class: “ ‘ I never ran the laps. Afte…