Characters
In what follows, we will focus on Clara and Mischa.
Clara
Clara is the main character in the short story “ Renaude ” by Charlotte Bondy and also its narrator.
Outer characterisation
Her outer characterisation reveals that she is a teenager in the last year of high school, that she lives with her mother, and that she is a lesbian. Note that there is only a brief mention of Clara’s father in the short story (ll. 114-115), which means that her mother is probably a more important part in her life than her father. When Clara meets Mischa, she tells him about her once being mistaken for a boy, which is a clue regarding Clara’s more boyish looks back then.
Inner characterisation
When it comes to the girl’s inner characterisation, note that she is open-minded and friendly and that she is the one who approaches Mischa and who makes the first step in their friendship: “After class I found him in the hall and told him I was jealous of his curls. I also told him this story about when I was twelve and had a terrible mushroom cut.” (ll. 3-5).
When she spends time with Mischa at his house, the girl comes across as happy and comfortable. She is playful and, when the boy’s mother is busy, she enjoys pretending that they are the only ones living there. Clara is also open to new experiences, so she does not refuse drinking, smoking, doing drugs, or watching porn with her friend:
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Mischa
Mischa is the second most important character in the short story.
Outer characterisation
His outer characterisation presents him as a teenager with Russian roots and “long dark hair and cheekbones like Kate Moss” (l. 2). The boy lives with his mother and his father has been absent ever since Mischa was a baby:
The two of them moved here from Moscow when Mischa was nine, and she is working on her doctoral dissertation, something complicated to do with physics. His dad was a radical Russian poet and left when Mischa was still a baby. His mum hasn’t dated anyone since. She’s always in the lab, working. (ll. 19-22)
Inner characterisation
His inner characterisation is revealed through the way he acts towards the people around him. He has a normal and healthy relationship with his mother and they communicate properly. When he spends time with Clara in his bedroom, he comes across as rather naïve and innocent, as he “watches porn the same way he watches nature documentaries, his head angled to the side, a mixture of confusion and fascination settling over his face” (ll. 26-28).
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