Lit 2 - How A Character Has Changed Due To Certain Events That Have Taken Place In His/Her Life

Based on the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, I think the character Colin has changed the most throughout the story due to certain events that have taken place in his life.

Colin does not know his real father. His mother gets attached to another man, Jack, who becomes stepfather to Colin. Colin has a close and affectionate relationship with him and calls him ‘dad’. His stepfather is someone with whom he can share anything about. One day, his mother decides to leave his stepfather and secretly moves away to another place taking Colin with her.

Colin changed into a very unhappy and lonely boy. He had to join a new school when his mother moved out of their home with him. He has to go through unpleasant experiences. Getting ignored was a common thing for him as the students at his new school had their own set of friends. His mother is always busy with her job at the canteen and with her household chores and had no time to listen to Colin’s problems.

Besides that, Colin changed into a dreamy boy which causes him to have less focus in class. As a result, he did badly in school. This is because he misses his step-father very much and every night he would take the tobacco tin out of the toe of his boot and put it under his pillow. He would even hum their favourite song, ‘The Bluebird of Happiness’ and stay awake for hours pretending to talk to his dad. ‘…I’d hum our favourite song.’ Page 56. Every time the ice skating ring plays their song he would be there listening.

Lastly, Colin became resourceful when he was separated from his step-father. He would keep track on how long since he last saw him which was 5 years, 8 months and 7 days. Not only that, he secretly writes his step-father’s name and his old address on the forms at school. ‘…sneak his name and our old address on the forms…’ page 60. In order to be able to search for his step-father one day, he tries to save money by doing 3 paper rounds a week.

At first, Colin responded negatively to the changes in his life by becoming dreamy and moody but he decides to do something worthy by going after what he wants. His love and longing for his dad motivated him to become optimistic, resourceful and patient in his mission to search for his dad.