Megan Henderson

Megan Henderson is an important character in Beejay Silcox's “Slut Trouble”. She comes from a broken home: She lives with her father, Mr Henderson, because her mother, Lisa Henderson, left home a year before to be with another man (ll. 51-53).

Megan’s outer characterisation is constructed through the description we get from Laura, the narrator. Megan is, most likely, less than 18 years old, like Laura (ll. 18-19). Also like Laura, she has plain, brown, undyed hair, which she wears in a different style every day (ll. 9-12). Megan wants to be someone else than the one she is now.

More importantly, however, her physical appearance (and a black wig) makes her look like Julie-Anne in Laura’s eyes, which leads to Laura’s strong emotional response during their game in the tent:

She is lying on her back with her arms up above her head. In the moon-dark the wig looks like her real hair. Her head is tilted back, her eyes are closed and in that moment, I can see her – I can see Julie-Anne. Perfect, beautiful Julie-Anne in Megan’s mean little face. (ll. 120-122)

Megan’s inner characterisation is constructed through the narrator’s words, through her language, and her actions. As with Laura, we are introduced to Megan’s competitive personality from the beginning of the story. Laura recounts how their competition over hair length started: “Megan made the hairdresser measure it exactly, and neither of us has touched it since. Megan is winning, which is how she likes it.” (ll. 15-16)

Megan likes to be the dominant one in her and Laura's relationship. She dares Laura to steal the neighbours’ paper (ll. 34-35), but when Laura hesitates, she taunts her: “ ‘When did you get so fucking boring?’ ” (l. 37) This suggests that Megan probably knows Laura will not let herself appear like a coward in front of her, and takes advantage of Laura’s weakness. When Laura accepts the dare and steals the paper, Megan does not acknowledge her courage; instead, she puts Laura down: “ ‘You run like a spaz,’ she says as I hand her the paper” (l. 42).

Generally, we notice that Megan often insults Laura: “ ‘Are you really that fucking dumb?’ ” (l. 72), “ ‘It’s not a photo, it’s a headshot dumb-ass’ ” (l. 86). Although her motivation is unclear, Megan might enjoy insulting Laura because it makes her feel in control, especially since Laura does not protest against her behaviour. Megan also becomes annoyed when Laura points out that her hair is longer, which hints at her insecurity (ll. 70-76)....