Most Starch Character In Russel's Ava Bigtree

One of the most starch character development can be observed in Ava Bigtree. In the beginning of the story, Ava has a vast imagination. Ava’s imagination is fueled by the nature surrounding her. She has the ability to see every situation she is in through a positive lens. The author uses Birdman as a catalyst in Ava’s development and the loss of her innocence. Once Ava is raped, her imagination begins to dwindle away. Eventually, the nature that once fueled her begins to force her into a new mindset. “But if I observe my friend and fairy man from a different perch of my brain, I saw the birdman could be an anybody” (Russel 283). After this pivotal moment, Ava starts to notice the nature she lives in is not as magical as she once believes. When Ava is awakened to the danger of Birdman, her perspective of nature and the world around her begins to dull. “We walked back from the hammock in silence. We passed the same trees and their same orbiting bulbs the same white flowers the same sour creamy ponds but everything looked changed to me now. The moon had a bad charge” (Russel 291). One terrible experience, in the swamp, causes the small child to lose her former identity. The event shapes the way she feels about herself and the world surrounding her.