Fever 1793 Character Analysis

All people in the world during life are faced with problems that they have to face and persevere. In the book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson the reader is introduced to a fourteen year old girl named Matilda who has to go through all that was described. When the novel first started Matilda is introduced to an easy life. But into the book things get bad for Mattie and her family because Matilda’s mother and grandfather get the yellow fever and her grandpa dies. Towards the ending of the book matilda was running the coffeehouse and doing everything that her mother was doing. Matilda is a dynamic character but one thing about her stays the same and she goes through many challenges. She is a dynamic character because she changes from lazy
to hard working, and how she was very unhelpful to everybody but became very helpful to her mother and grandpa, but one thing that never changed was her being loving to Nathaniel.

The main character matilda changed in the novel was Matilda changing from a lazy person to a hardworking young lady.
Mattie was so lazy until the epidemic to she wouldn’t be able to cook food, clean tables, or taking care of herself. In the text it states that “‘I can't tell who is lazier polly or you’ Mother muttered” (Anderson 2). This proves that Mattie is lazy. And how other people think of her as a very lazy person. And how people describe her. Mattie was very hard working after the change because she was running the coffeehouse. The text says “The water finally boiled. I made coffee for myself, a mug for eliza, and one for mother.”“Day had begun.”(Anderson 242). This is showing that she is first to wake up and she is doing the tasks that her mother once did. She was getting the things her mom did for the coffeehouse as well. This shows how she was being hardworking. The things that Mattie did when her mom was sick she was taking over the coffeehouse she was being
hardworking.
The second change with Matilda is that experienced being so unhelpful that she wasn’t allowed to do things because her mother didn’t think she could. When we were at the coffeehouse she did things that were so unhelpful but she thought that they were such helpful things. “I made a face at the doorway. I had just saved her precious quilt from disaster, but would sh appreciate it? Of course not.” (Anderson 2) With this it shows that she helped in things that were so little. Would her mom really be mad if her quilt was ripped a bit? This proves that she didn’t help in hard situations but did a bear minimum. When mattie started being helpful it was when her and her grandpa got kicked off of a carriage going away from philadelphia. “A line of willow trees” “find a willow tree and you’ll find water nearby” (Anderson 85). This quote is a soldier trick that her grandpa taught her. She uses this to find water from him. This proves how she became very helpful in difficult situations. The things that Mattie did when her grandpa was sick she was caring for him and getting him water shows she was being helpful.

The one thing with Matilda that never changed was that she has always liked Nathaniel Benson.
Whenever Nathaniel Benson would be mentioned she was always blushing and always looking happy. “‘Speaking of Mr. Nathaniel Benson’” he started. “‘Were we’” I inquired. (Anderson 35). When her grandpa was talking about Nathaniel Benson so acted like she didn’t know. Also she was fantasizing about when her grandpa was talking. This is how she acts when Nathaniel Benson. She didn’t change because she started liking him more as the book progressed. “‘I hoped I might find you here’” a low voice rumbled in my ear. “My heart jumped” “‘Nathaniel’” “I wanted to throw my arms around him, or jump up and down.” (Anderson 216) When she heard Nathaniel she was very happy and joyous. She wanted to hug him and jump up and down which are things you do when happy. This is how she was when she heard and saw him. The way that she was acting shows that she never changed with her being Loving to Nathaniel
Benson.

In the book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson the reader is introduced to matilda who is a fourteen year old girl who went through challenges and went through it. Matilda is a dynamic character but one thing about her stays the same and she goes through many challenges. Also she changed because of how she started working hard. Mattie changed because of how she became helpful. Matilda never changed by her being loving to Nathaniel. So seeing how one person has changed and stayed the same, what will you now do to make yourself a better person.