Characters

The story “The Middle Children” by Rayda Jacobs includes the following characters: Sabah, the other mixed-race girl on the platform, Stephanie, the two investigators, Jeffery Fine the lawyer, and Sabah’s parents. Out of these characters, Sabah is the most important one, but we will also briefly outline Stephanie as she is relevant for the social attitudes she conveys.…

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Sabah

Sabah is the main character in the short story. Her characterisation is conveyed by following her perspective on the events but also through her actions and her attitude.

Outer characterisation

Sabah’s outer characterisation reveals that she is a South African middle child, a young woman of mixed race with white skin. She is 21 years old (p. 24, l. 7). Sabah studied at business school and works as a legal assistant (p. 24, ll. 1-4) and she used to be engaged to a man who moved to Canada. She is not Christian and the story suggests that she might be Muslim: “No rules, no duties, no fasting, no praying five times a day.” (p. 23, l. 3).

Her physical portrait suggests that she is a fashionable girl: “Smartly dressed in knee-high boots, mini skirt, Beatles jacket, and black beret, Sabah got off the bus at Mowbray station, and walked down the step into the subway to the other side.” (p. 22, ll. 1-3)

Inner characterisation

Sabah’s inner characterisation be…

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Stephanie

Stephanie is a secondary, episodic character in the short story, but she is important because she has a different attitude to her mixed-race heritage, compared to Sabah.

Stephanie’s outer characterisation tells us that she is probably the same age as Sabah (they were together in high school), that she is mixed race, has several sisters, and is dating and plans to marry a German man, with whom she l…