Preview

Goodnight Mr Tom Essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
298 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Goodnight Mr Tom Essay
goodnight In ‘’ Goodnight mister Tom ‘’ a fictional novel by Michelle Magorian, there are many events, circumstances and influential people that prompt change in the main character.
These changes can be seen through the development of William Beech, the protagonist in the novel. Willie changes from a shy, timid, fearful boy to a confident sociable and mature young man.

Willies growth is prompted by certain situations such as the World War II emerging in Great Britain, Willie living with mister Tom and how mister Tom influences him.

At the start of ‘’ Goodnight mister Tom ‘’, we are introduced to Willie,. Willie is a very shy, cautious young boy who grew up with his abusive mother in London. He was scared of many things and was told by his mother over and over again that he was full of sin. Willie started out being thin and sickly looking; pale with limp sandy hair and dull grey eyes. Later on the novel, he became stronger and more healthy he had colour in his skin and warmth in his eyes. Willie behaved very well for mister Tom and behaved as though he was still under control of his harsh mother.
He soon became more relaxed around mister Tom in the household and behaved more like a young boy.

‘’ ‘ I must be good,’ he whispered urgently, ‘ I must be good, ‘ and he rubbed a sore spot on his arm.’’

This quote uses the technique of repletion. Through such a technique we can relate to the characters up bringing, and how his firm mother would have drilled into him to be good. ‘’He rubbed a sore spot on his arm’’ is relating to his poor, insufficient appearance due to his mothers beatings. This was all to change when willie was sent to live with

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Did Tom Sawyer Change

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The main character Tom Sawyer changed throughout the book. He came more thoughtful like at the start he would steal and apple from Aunt Polly. The end of the book he would help his friends like Becky when she need help in the cave. His attitude changed a lot he was very mischievous at the start and now he respects people's decisions.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Story of Tom Brennan

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tom initially feels guilt ridden by a number of the tragedies that had occurred. With support from people such as C,T and B, Tom starts to realise that these tragedies were not his fault. He could not control what had happened. Tom pays his respects to the families of N and L. He starts to visit Finn on a more regular basis and he acknowledges that things will never return to how they were. Tom “moves on with his life” and in doing so overcomes many of his fears.)…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bran Nue Dae Notes

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages

    o Willie: Shy, likes Rosie, protagonist, wants to be a priest, mothers boy, innocent, caring, honest, free…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Willy’s extreme arrogance disguises his true faults, such as his anxiety. In excerpt A, Willy quotes by saying, “how can he find himself on a farm? A farmhand?” Willy describes the disappointment he…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Change is a very common part of life. However, there are always people who change more than some due to one thing or another. The character the changed the most throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is Jem, which can be seen mostly through his attitude change towards his sister and the world.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The tone of the story is mostly hatful because Willie is trying to convince others of his belief that the people of Earth are bad. On page 47 it says, “ Let’s have a…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Willy often retreats to the past, because he does not want to deal with his failures in the present. Once Willy finally owns up to his mistakes he fixes the problem by committing suicide, because his family can get insurance money from his death.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    No period of time passes without leaving its mark on human history. It is uncommon, though, for a decade to be as transformative on a society as the 1970s – and closely related events in the 1960s and 1980s – were on the United States. The Vietnam war and the counterculture’s response reached their zenith. Environmentalism as a sociopolitical force found new and much stronger footing. The mobile phone and microprocessor, the foundations of large-scale modern telecommunications, were invented.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the first scene, Willy returns home attired in a business suit overburdened by suitcases he is carrying. It is immediately obvious that he is no rich man, but an overtired, elderly man who ought to be retired, as he himself proclaims he is ‘tired to the death’. This is true of Willy however he sees no alternative to life as a travelling salesman, telling his wife that he’s ‘vital in New England’; this is a fable of Willy’s whilst the reality is his employer’s don’t see him as ‘vital’ in any such way. The vulnerable aspect of Willy is therefore demonstrated through his dedication to his unsuccessful job and yet to some it could be considered heroic of the man to be so persistent.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    All the Kings Men - 1

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the novel, Willie is often seen as somewhat of a hero to the people. As he takes on his role of governor, he makes all decisions with his people in mind. He has intentions of bettering everyone’s lives. He continually promises to build roads and bridges, and he goes through with these promises. Willie draws people in with his speeches and keeps their votes by continually reminding them that he has never let them down. Although Willie Stark may sound like a top notch person, his strategy to accomplish his goals, flaws his character. To accomplish his intentionally good goals, Willie continually bullies and blackmails people to get to the top. He hires Jack Burden to “dig up dirt” on anybody that he sees as a threat, or an advantage, to his campaign. He is desperate to reveal secrets about people’s pasts, so he can use the secrets to his advantage later. Willie also messes with people’s minds and what they believe in to get his way. For example, at one point in the novel, Willie promises to build the most amazing hospital for all the people. He promises that it will be the best hospital to take care of everybody. He plans to hire Dr. Adam Stanton, one of the best doctors. Adam does not like to be associated with anything that involves Willie because he likes to stay away from corruption. Willie does not let this…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In some ways, Tom is a character we should pity; however, in chapter three we learn that he is a strong character who lives by a matter-of-fact set of ‘principals’:…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He’s deals with people negative opinions about him being crippled. The narrator says “The tragedy of his lameness seems so unfair to children that they are embarrassed in its presence” (Angelou pg39). Angelou experienced at a very young age that judgments others assume by looking at the appearances of a person. Angelou says: “in our society, where two legged, two armed strong black men were anle at the best of eke out the necessities of life “(Angelo 39). Uncle Willie was not born paralyzed; he had been dropped as an infant. Most important people now are a whole a lot more judgmental on a person’s appearances. They don’t see past the appearance of a person, instead people automatically criticize each other. Uncle willie was a person that the society never gave a chance to prove that him being crippled didn’t affect who the person inside he was. Uncle Willie became grumpy and seen himself as the useless person people said he was. Uncle Willie wanted to just feel needed and appreciated by others. The narrator says:” only once in the years of trying to watch him, I saw him pretend to himself and others he wasn’t lame” (Angelou pg.40). He tried to make the couple in the store see him as a man and not a crippled man. Uncle Willie just wants to respect as another respected man and not as a crippled man. Angelou admired uncle wilie and idealized him as a father figure.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Tom's father uses a light mood and a smile to transition Tom from an angry state to a calmer one.…

    • 1649 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Willy was a very prideful man in all aspects of his life he took pride in his job and his sons. Though the pride was almost always fabricated in his head it was always there and he displayed it everywhere and in almost everything he did. This pride was not a reality for the most part the Lomen family struggled to…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Piano Lesson

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The portrayal of Boy Willie in the production is similar to the character in the play. In the production Boy Willie is one of the more leading characters compared to other characters. Between Lymon and Boy Willie, Boy Willie is the more dominate one. In the beginning of the production, when the two men arrived at Doaker and Bernice’s home Boy Willie keeps asking Doaker for some alcohol he knows that Doaker keeps in his room. When Doaker brings out the alcohol he tells Doaker not to give any to Lymon because he does not know the good kind of alcohol. In that it scene Boy Willie seems somewhat selfish, in the way he was grabbing the bottle before Lymon had a chance too. Following this particular scene, while Doaker is making breakfast for himself Boy Willie keeps hassling Doaker to give him some of the breakfast. Doaker does give in and gives it to Boy Willie. Boy Willie asks Lymon if he wants some also and holds it out to his friend but then proceeds to pull it back, kind of in a…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays