A Character That Changed

The spectacular novel, 'Step by Wicked Step' authored by Anne Fine, tells the story about 5 schoolchildren, namely Claudia, Robbo, Ralph, Colin and Pixie who all come from dysfunctional families were separated from their friends while on a school trip and finds themselves in an old mansion on a stormy night. They discovered an old diary belonging to a boy named Richard Harwick. Learning about Richard's family's hardships from the diary has prompted them to share their personal experience with their dysfunctional families. In the novel, each character was put into situations where they had to face adjustments in their lives. This has allowed the children to find care and support from each other as they have a taste of each other's problems. Some of these children will have a change in their character to adapt to the adjustments in their lives.

I find that Colin's character has changed due to a certain event that has taken place in his life. Colin used to be a cheerful and outgoing boy. He used to go to parks with his father, Jack and he would call him the bluebird of happiness. When Colin's mother left his father and took him along with her, his cheerful character left Colin as well. He became an unhappy and lonely boy. After moving out from their old home, he had to enroll in a new school. 'I had to start at another school where everyone had friends already.' In school, he has to go through unpleasant experiences like being ignored as his schoolmates already have their own circle of friends. They only laughed at him whenever he did not understand what they were doing. 'Nobody bothered with me, except to only snigger when i didn't understand all the stuff they'd been doing.' To add salt to the wound, he had nobody to confide to as his father left. His mother did not give him the attention he deserved as she was busy with her work at the canten as well as household chores. '...when she comes home she is always too busy doing things to listen to anything I said.'

Secondly,  Colin clearly had a closer relationship with his father compared to his mother. His relationship with his mother was rather distant as she paid more attention to her work. When Colin's dad left, he was left with a hole in his life. Colin then became a dreamy boy which causes him to have less focus in class. This took a toll on his studies and he did badly in school. 'I started getting into trouble for being half asleep...' He misses his dad dearly. He confessed that he would take out the tobacco tin belonging to his dad to reminisce the time spent with him. 'Each night I took out the tobacco tin out of the toe of my boot, where I kept it hidden, under my pillow.' He pretends that he is still with him and hum their favourite song. 'I'd pretend that he was there with me.'

The emotional challenges that Colin faces also brought out some good traits in him. The sudden absence of a fatherly figure has molded Colin to become more resourceful. It has been 5 years, 8 months and 7 days since he was separated from his dad. His oblivious mother thinks that he has forgotten about his father, but Colin secretly still writes his father's name and old address on school forms. '... I always secretly sneak his name and our old address on all the form that Mum's filled in for school...' Colin is hopeful that he will find his father again someday. His resourceful attitude can be seen when he saves every penny and does three paper rounds so that when he is old enough, he can set off to find his father. 'I keep practically every coin that comes my way. I even do three paper rounds.'

In a nutshell, Colin responded negatively initially to the adjustments in his life. He was depressed, sad and dreamy in school. Finally, he realises that being sad and wallowing in the past will not change the outcome of things. He finally found the motivation to turn over a new leaf. Colin is now optimistic, resourceful and motivated to achieve his dreams : to find his father.