Lessons from My Favorite Characters, Chapter 1

As an avid reader and film-watcher, an aspiring writer, and a human person, I, like many others, find character analysis fascinating. The list of characters that I admire and love is a long one; but in a series of blog posts I hope to name a few of them. As of late, I've been reading about and re-watching the movies including some of my favorite female characters, so I thought I would start with them.

1. Molly Mahoney (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, film)

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Mahoney was not an instant favorite. I remember that I was more confused than impressed by the movie the first time I saw it. I imagined it would be a typical funny children's movie when I saw it for the first time (I was around age 12 or 13, I think). But, a few years later when I watched it again, I was deeply touched and stirred by several of the deeper themes and messages that the movie communicated.
As time has gone on, I have found myself relating to Mahoney in many ways. I have even described her as one of the characters that I relate to the most.  She's looking for something more.  She knows that she has talent; but she's looking for a way to use it. She wants to grow, but doesn't really know how to.  She's reluctant in the face of change.  She's not afraid to reach out to people (even misfits like Eric). I love watching her character grow in the film. But allow me to elaborate further.

"When she was younger, everyone thought she was a musical genius, a brilliant pianist, and she believed them. But now, as she became a grown up, she wasn't so sure. I'm not sure why grown ups don't believe what they did when they were kids. I mean, aren't they supposed to be smarter? What Mahoney needed was an opportunity to prove to herself that she was more than what she believed." 

Like many, Mahoney experiences doubts about herself and her abilities.  She wants to do something great, but she isn't sure that she can, and if she can how she will.

"May I suggest you stun the world with Molly Mahoney's First?"
"I want to. But I am stuck." 

She wants to believe that there is more to her than meets the eye. But she's not sure if it's true.  So she goes looking for answers.

"Mutant, when you look at me, what do you see?" 
"Really pretty eyes?" 
"*laughter* No. That's not what I mean." 
"What do you mean?" 
"Do you see a sparkle?" 
"You mean like glitter? On your face?" 
"No. I mean, like...a sparkle."
"Like what kind of sparkle?"
"Like something reflective of something bigger that's trying to get out." 

How amazing. I can't tell you how many times I have wondered about this. When people look at me, what do they see? Do they see the kind of sparkle that Mahoney is talking about? Something more that's trying to get out? How do I find it? How do I let it loose?

What's amazing about this movie is the way that Mr. Magorium and others show Mahoney how she does not need to change her circumstances or change who she is in order to become who she's supposed to be.  Rather, what is necessary is that she has faith in who she is and acts out of that.

"What you need to believe in is not the store, it's not the cube, it's not me. What you need to believe in is you...Holy cow."
"What is it?"
"A sparkle." 

I think perhaps another reason I love Mahoney so much and I find myself relating to her is that the things that Mr. Magorium (and others) say to her have been words I needed to hear.
For instance:
"We breathe. We pulse. We regenerate. Our hearts beat, our minds create, our souls ingest. 37 seconds well used is a lifetime!" 

"Your life is an occasion. Rise to it." 

But I also love her zest for life and her ability to see the world for more than its outward appearances.

"You're a 'just guy.'" 
"What's a just guy?" 
"A guy just like you, same hair, same clothes, same shoes, who looks around and, whatever he sees, he thinks: 'Oh, it's just a tree...it's just a store...it's just a bench.' It's just what it is, nothing more." 
"But this...is just a toy store."
"I'm sure to you it is." 

She's not satisfied just looking at the outward appearances of things. She's fascinated by the deeper meaning; the soul of the thing, if you will.  What makes it what it is? Why do I find this attractive? I like her inquisitiveness and her sense of humor. The story is about Mahoney's journey to become who she really is. She thinks, in the beginning, that this means moving on from her job and the things that she loves (writing music, the store, etc.).  But her friends, in time, show her that this is not what she ought to do. Rather, she needs to embrace who she is and apply herself, with all of her talents and dreams, to this task that she is completely capable of doing if she believes that she can and acts on that belief. Mahoney's character has a depth to it that makes it so interesting every time I analyze her a bit more.  She's not a character that you can understand just by skimming the surface.  I think that's true about the entire film, which may be why I love it so much. If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend that you do.

2. Josephine (Jo) March (Little Women, film (1994))

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I love Jo for her spunk, imagination, humor, and pursuit of her dreams.  Her aspirations to be an author are also something I can relate to, as writing is a particular hobby that I am very fond of (though for Jo it's hardly a hobby).  Her love of her home and family also are incredibly relatable. It's no surprise that this is the movie I watch when I am missing home since it reminds me very much of my family, especially my sisters.  Of the March sisters, Jo is probably the one I relate to the most.  Her imaginative and wild spirit appeal to me in so many ways; and her stubbornness and frustration are also very relatable. Jo's story is also one of journeying, which is why I love it so much, I think.

Jo delights in writing thrilling stories, which, for most who have pursued writing fiction, is relatable. But, as her character grows, she learns that is not so much what she likes that she should write about. Her friendship with Friedrich shows her that.  Her writing should flow from who she is as a person, from her life experiences.  "There is more to you than this, if you have the courage to write it," he tells her. It's a challenge in a way. It's outside of Jo's comfort zone, and she feels as though he should be proud of her because she is succeeding as a writer of these thrilling stories. But Friedrich sees more in Jo. He knows she has the ability to write well. But he also knows her as a person, and he does not see much of who she is as a person communicated in her writing. He calls her out of her comfort zone and challenges her to be more than what she already is.

I also admire Jo's struggle to find where she belongs.

"Of course Aunt March prefers Amy over me. Why shouldn't she? I'm ugly, and awkward, and I always say the wrong things. I fly around throwing away perfectly good marriage proposals. I love our home but I'm so dreadful that I can't stand being here! ...I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Marmee. Something's really wrong with me. I want to change, but I can't. And I just know I'll never fit in anywhere." 

How easy it is for us to find ourselves feeling the same way. Especially when, throughout life, we have been independent, strong-willed, creative, or just natural loners.  But I love how Marmee responds to Jo in this moment of internal (and external) struggle and discouragement:

"Jo, you have so many extraordinary gifts! How can you expect to lead an ordinary life? You're ready to go out and find a good use for your talent...Go, and embrace your liberty, and see what wonderful things come of it." 

Our individuality should never be something that we are ashamed of, that we try to suppress and get over.  Jo knows this. But at the same time, she can't help being discouraged by a world around her that seems to shut down her spirit and urge her into a kind of life that she does not want.

I could go on talking about Jo and this movie for a long time (in the near future, I plan on giving some analysis of her romance story); but for brevity sake, and in order to introduce two more of my favorites, I will leave it there for now.

3. Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables, Sullivan Entertainment)

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Anne Shirley. Bright, romantic, imaginative, dreamy, ...hot tempered, and stubborn. Anne is one of my favorites for how real she is.  She does not try to hide her faults.  Rather, she becomes aware of them and tries to overcome them: "I never make the same mistake twice." 

When Anne first comes to her new home in Avonlea, she sticks out like a sore thumb. Not only is she odd because she's an orphan, but her wild imagination and dramatic language take many of the simple folk of Avonlea by surprise, and people are quick to dismiss what they don't understand.  Hence, Anne's reflective thoughts and dreamy reveries are usually dismissed by those around her as childish nonsense.  Anne's is the story, if you will, of the oddball who finds her way in a town of "normal" people. (I say "normal" because, personally, I'm convinced there's no such thing.) 

But, I think some of the greatest lessons I learned from Anne are related to romance.  Of course, no conversation about this would be complete without mentioning the beloved Gilbert Blythe. 

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Ah, Gilbert...handsome, charming, kind, and what a gentleman (in the truest sense of the word).  But another great quality of Gilbert's is his honesty.  He's not content to just praise Anne's writing and give words of encouragement (though he does offer these at the moments when they are needed). Rather, he challenges Anne. He knows there is more to her and that she can write greater stories than the romantic fairytales that she's given so much time and energy to.  

"Take the $50 and write a story about the people you care about, right here in Avonlea!" 

to which Anne replies sharply: "Well you certainly wouldn't be one of them!" 

Anne's romantic fantasies get the best of her in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel.  She has an idea in her mind of what romance should and does look like.  In her mind, it is a dashing, dark, melancholy man coming into her life and sweeping her off her feet with poetic words.  This idea of hers is indirectly contested when her best friend, Diana Barry, marries the simple and kind Fred Wright of Avonlea.  Diana, like Anne, had entertained fantasies of a tall, romantic young man coming into her life and romancing her.  Now, she seems to have let those fantasies go for the reality of Fred; but she tells Anne: 

"I'm really very happy! Though it does seem ridiculous for me to be marrying Fred. But he's got a good heart; he's so thoughtful." 

Anne refuses to let go of her ideals in spite of this.  So tightly does she hang on to them that she flat-out refuses Gilbert.  She seeks adventure elsewhere, away from the simplicity of Avonlea.  In her adventures, she comes into contact with a man who seems to embody her romantic ideals: Morgan Harris, a rich, young widower with a troubled past.  

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Anne is, eventually, starstruck. As is Morgan Harris.  But, in the moment where Morgan proposes to Anne, Anne finally seems to see through the haze of the romance of novels, and she sees more clearly what is the kind of love that leads to strong marriages.  She refuses. She comes close to reconsidering, but she realizes that there's something not right about marrying Morgan Harris.  I think that, at this moment, finally Marilla's words get through to Anne:

(speaking of Gilbert) "Anne, you have tricked something out of that imagination of yours that you call romance. Have you forgotten how [Gilbert] gave up the Avonlea school for you so that you could stay here with me?  He picked you up everyday in his carriage so that you could study your courses together.  Don't toss it away from some ridiculous ideal that doesn't exist." 

I don't think Anne fully realizes just yet that she loves Gilbert and that's the reason why she turns down Morgan. I think what happens is that Anne finally sees the truth about love.  It's not fireworks and sailing ships and ballrooms...it's the little sacrifices, the acts of kindness, the challenges.  And, through that, Anne begins to realize that she loves Gilbert for all his kindness, his humor, his genuineness, and for all the ways that he wants her to become a better person (and he wants to help her do that).  Honestly, this love story is one of the best in film that I have seen! I could go on and on about it. But then we wouldn't have time for number 4.  

4. Gloria Dump (Because of Winn Dixie)

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If you're seeing a theme here that I seem to like really complex characters, I think this one should dispel that a little. Gloria is not really a complicated character. We don't know a whole lot about her, but that doesn't change the fact that her simple words of wisdom have a lot of power and have had true influence on me. From something as simple as the "wait-and-see tree" to something as powerful as the "tree of wrongs," Gloria has some amazing life lessons to offer. Even her name is reflective of a deeper truth.  Gloria Dump. It's an odd name.  But think about it. Gloria! The cry of the angels announcing the coming of Jesus into the world.  Then Dump, which reminds us of a garbage heap.  But, think about that.... I think a lot of us see in ourselves some sort of garbage heap and we doubt our worth because we are so broken.  Yet Christ reaches out to us there and can pull us out of all the garbage and lies that we tell ourselves, or that the world and the devil whisper to us.  So amid the dump, there is glory: the glory of Christ. 

One of the things I like most about Gloria is her ability to listen. She's mostly blind, so she asks Opal a favor: 

"Why don't you tell me all about yourself so I can see you with my heart?" 

"I had been waiting so long to tell someone about myself, I couldn't stop! I told Gloria Dump everything...and the whole time I was talking, Gloria Dump was listening. ...I could feel her listening with all her heart. And it felt good." 

Something simple, true enough. But profound. I remember hearing that line in the movie and knowing in my heart how good it felt when someone listened to me, really listened.  I decided then that I wanted to be that kind of listener.  I haven't always been successful, of course. But I'm reminded often how important it is to listen to someone, not just with your ears, not just to respond, but to listen to understand and to listen with love.

Gloria also teaches Opal about how we should look at other people.

"But you're not a bad person."
"Doesn't mean I haven't done bad things...Oh, baby girl, you know a lot of folks have problems with liquor and beer, get to started drinking and can't get stopped." 
"Are you one of those people?"
"Yes, I am. But you know something? These days I don't drink nothing stronger than coffee." 
"Did the whiskey, and beer, and wine, did they make you do all those bad things that are ghosts now?"
"Some of them. Some of them I would have done anyway, with or without the liquor and the beer. ...Till I learned."
"Learned what?"
"Till I learned what was the most important thing."
"What was that?"
"It's different for everyone. Gotta learn it on your own. But you know, we should judge Otis by the pretty music that he makes, and how kind he is to all them animals, because that's all we know about him now. Right?"
"Yes, ma'am." 

This reminds me of a philosophy that St. Therese of Lisieux had. She believed that we should spend more time looking at people's virtues rather than their faults; after all, their virtues are far more beautiful! This doesn't mean feigning ignorance, of course, or denying that people have ever done things that they shouldn't.  Rather, it is a matter of seeing with the eyes of God: when God sees even the greatest sinner, He sees His beloved child, whom He has such grand dreams for.  But He also sees the ways that they have broken His heart. He cannot pretend that those are not there.  That is against His nature.  But He is always ready to forgive, as we should be, too.  And it is a far greater thing to love the sinner than to condemn him, and to look for what is good in them rather than to criticize them for what they've done wrong.  "Because that's all we know about them, right?" For me, this has been a concrete example, also, of what the "judge not" verse in the Bible that people quote all the time actually means.  We are not to judge persons; but we may judge actions.  Why? Because we can know that actions are wrong.  But persons are more complex than that: they may not know the action is wrong, or they may not realize just how wrong it is. There are so many factors that we cannot know from the outside. But God sees the heart.  He's omniscient.  As such, He alone is the just judge because He is the perfection of justice and mercy. But, in order to live righteously, we need to make judgments of actions: is this action right and, therefore, going to help me to get to heaven? Or is it wrong and going to lead me away from God?

As a result, I have learned to do my best to see the best in others, and to give them the benefit of the doubt until I am proven wrong.  That doesn't mean that, if I'm proven wrong, I consider them unworthy of love or mercy. Rather, it helps me to make good judgments about how to love them and how to continue to be a disciple of Jesus when I'm around them, never in a way that makes them feel bad (that is, not a "holier-than-thou" attitude), but hopefully in a way that makes them want to be His disciples, too.

Another great lesson from Gloria comes nearer to the end of the movie.

"You cannot hold on to anything that wants to go, do you understand what I'm saying? You've just gotta love it while you've got it, and that's that." 

This has meant different things for me at different points in my life.  But lately, it's meant not trying to hold on to something that is flowing away according to God's design.  That doesn't mean being passive about it, but having a realistic view of the situation.  There are things that come into our lives only for a short time and then they go out of it, whether it's people, places, or things.  Our job is to pay attention to the grace of God in those moments and how He is using those things in our lives in the present moment. Those things that help us to grow in holiness we should hold on to. But those things that, if we try to hold them so tightly, pull our attention away from Him, it's time to let those things go.

I hope you find my reflections at least amusing if not informative. I have enjoyed writing this post, and will probably be writing more like it in the future.  But I hope that these characters now inspire you, even just a little bit, to become more the person that God made you to be and to let His light shine through you into the world.  God bless!

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to destroy you, plans to give you a future and a hope" -Jeremiah 29:11