Character Analysis: The Girl From The Well

Imagine a house centipede chasing you down your hallway. Running away and yelling for help is the usual response to these pests. Fear and uncomfort are the overall emotions during the over exaggerated episode. These exact emotions take place during the book The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupeco. Instead of the house centipede chasing a child an extremely dangerous demon is latched onto an unfortunate victim. In the story, the main character, Tarquin, along with his cousin, Calli, his mother, Yoko, and the friendly demon, Okiku, are trying to banish the evil that haunts them. Characters in the story have the motivation by the theme being free from evil to go to any measure to eliminate the evil. Having constant fear of a demon that
The narrator, Okiku, does this with her certain purpose. Okiku is a spirit that died 300 years ago and now travels the world on her own. She travels around taking vengeance on murderers who kill children, which is her purpose. Their souls that are connected to their murderer are released as fireflies once Okiku takes vengeance. The website OneFour KidLit shows that Okiku attacks the evil that lives on in the world to do good. “This doesn’t stop her from being violent when the situation calls for it, and while she considers most of what she does true justice, I wouldn’t say she’s been able to temper it with mercy when it comes to many of her victims – though she’s forced to reassess her centuries-old vengeance when innocent humans become involved.” (OneFour KidLit par. 5) This shows that Okiku likes to help the good and eliminate the evil. Okiku also wants to help Tarquin with his evil when she first sees him. At the end of the story she has the chance to eliminate the demon that haunts Tarquin. An article by Publishers Weekly shows the attraction towards Tarquin and her want to help him. “Okiku has dispassionately existed only to take vengeance, and the unexpected fondness she develops for Tark and his cousin Callie eventually takes them to Japan, where Okiku confronts her own tragic origin and sees a chance to rid Tark of his demon.” (Publisher Weekly, par. 1) The kindness of Okiku shows during this because her only purpose is to get rid of monsters that harm children but her fondness towards Tarquin has also earned him her protection. Okiku’s goal is to free the lost children, rid the monsters that took the children’s lives, and protect Tarquin no matter the