Characterization In Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk

Chris Crutcher uses many forms of characterization focused mainly at the beginning of Whale Talk, and it’s spread throughout the rest of it to help the readers get a better, established, understanding of the characters, to further develop his story. The characters in Whale Talk are believable, and realistic which helps the reader to connect their knowledge to the story, and to comprehend the story better. The main character is a round character, and his name is The Tao Jones, but he prefers the nickname T.J. Through direct characterization, the reader knows that T.J. is completely opposed to participating in team sports, even though he a very athletic young man, which makes him complex, and somewhat difficult to understand. He explains, “I’ll be breaking a career-long rule banning myself from organized sports...I love athletics...Cutter is such a jock school...athletics has become such
is that he is always looking out for the underdog, in this case the underdog is basically anyone who doesn’t initially play sports. One instance of this was, “Barbour has the jacket buttoned at the bottom and pulled down around Chris’s shoulders so he can't move his arms, and his nose is about an inch from Chris’s…tears squirt out of Chris’s terrified eyes…I hustle over and insert myself between them, put an arm around Chris’s shoulder and say, “What's the matter, buddy?’” (Crutcher 15). He is constantly acting by the lesson that just because someone is different doesn't mean that they’re worse or better than anyone else. On more occasions than one, he has stood up for Chris and many other characters who may need a little extra help. He knows what it is like to be a victim of bullying, and is always willing to help others. T.J. is a very realistic character who readers are able to relate to. In one way or another, readers can associate their life with T.J.’s because of the authentic situations that he goes through like bullying, racism, sports, school,