Character Analysis Essay: We Were Liars and Mice Comparison

This essay provides a comparative analysis of two characters, Candence from E. Lockhart's 'We Were Liars' and Shelley from Gordon Reece's 'Mice', exploring the impact of past experiences on their personalities and resilience. The essay delves into Candence's struggle with amnesia and the instability caused by her uncertain past, highlighting her dependence on memories. In contrast, it examines Shelley's trauma from bullying, which leads to her feelings of inferiority and isolation. The essay argues that both characters are hindered by their pasts, limiting their ability to live fully in the present, and concludes that overcoming past experiences is crucial for personal growth and resilience. References from the books are included to support the analysis.

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY
ENGLISH ESSAY
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
The characteristics of human nature is a very complex thing to identify. Moreover, the
development of the different characteristics are influenced by the incidents that mould the
personality of the persons. The experiences become the stepping-stones for the persons to
respond to future circumstances (Wilson, Cox and Crosser 2014). Similarly, the development
of a resilient person, requires the person to be aware of the past incidents of life, and moving
forward in life by keeping the past aside. The purpose of this discussion is comparatively
analyse two characters from We Were Liars by E. Lockheart and Mice by Gordon Reece. The
two characters that have been taken into consideration for the analysis are Candence from We
Were Liars and Shelley from Mice.
The character of Candence is a very complex one, as it has been portrayed that the girl
is suffering from Amnesia, which was caused by a brain injury. The unreliability of her
mental conditions gives layers to the development of her characteristic features (Lockhart
2017). The duality of herself, living between the past and the present leads to the instability
of her mind. The resilience of the mind is questionable, as the dependence on the past does
not allow her to live in the present.
On the contrary, the problem of Mary is more of a perception than the disease itself. It
has been seen that Mary has been a victim of bullying, which has forced her to retreat to the
isolated English countryside. The past memories of trauma and humiliation rests deeply in the
mind of Shelley, which leads her to look upon herself and her mother as the mice of the
society. The inferiority complex of Shelley is the result of her past memories of trauma
(Karlovsky 2015). Moreover, in the book it is seen that the people who bullied Shelley were
not put to justice. This aspect deepens the impact in Shelley’s mind as she develops the idea
that justice is a concept of the fairy tales.

2ENGLISH ESSAY
From the above discussion, it can be seen that both the characters are haunted by
different events of the past but in a different manner. Candence, as it can be seen strives hard
to find the originality of her past. Her amnesia, blocks her from reliving her memories and
she questions herself of her existence and her purpose in the world (McPherson 2018). She
belongs to a rich family, but her uncertainty limits her from achieving happiness in the
present. Similarly, Shelley suffers from traumatic experiences from the past, which forces her
to believe that she is inferior to the presence of others and hides in isolation (Karlovsky
2015). The fear of the experiences limits her from living in the present and also checks her
from being happy.
It can be concluded from the above discussion that experiences are a hindrance to the
progression in the future. The dependence on the past limits oneself from gaining confidence
to live in the present. Hence, it can be concluded that in order to be a resilient person one
needs to leave the experiences behind and move forward.

3ENGLISH ESSAY
References:
Karlovsky, B., 2015. Love and trust. Inside Film: If, (167), p.27.
Lockhart, E., 2017. We Were Liars. Delacorte Press.
McPherson, D., 2018. Reading and viewing [Book Review]. English in Australia, 53(1),
p.101.
Wilson, S.L., Cox, E. and Crosser, C., 2014. Bending the Edges: Multiple Perspectives in
Children's and Young Adult Literature in the Time of Common Core Standards. New
England Reading Association Journal, 50(1), p.63.