Sam Gribley is one of the most dynamic fictional characters you will ever meet. First of all, let’s define the terms as they are used in this question. “Static” means standing still, not moving, or not making any personal progress in any way. “Dynamic” is its direct opposite. It means not only being in motion but also making changes and making some kind of progress. A statue is static. A waterfall is dynamic. We expect...
Sam Gribley is one of the most dynamic fictional characters you will ever meet. First of all, let’s define the terms as they are used in this question. “Static” means standing still, not moving, or not making any personal progress in any way. “Dynamic” is its direct opposite. It means not only being in motion but also making changes and making some kind of progress. A statue is static. A waterfall is dynamic. We expect characters in stories and books to be dynamic – to experience some kind of change in personality, outlook, lifestyle, or something else -- between the first and the last pages. Otherwise, why should we care about them? Why should we read about a person who experiences nothing?
In this book, Sam is a city boy who has run away to live alone in the wilderness. He has read books about some survival skills, like what kinds of plants are edible in the wild, but he has never done anything like this on his own. In every one of the 22 chapters in this book, Sam learns something new – about something edible, or something useful he can make, or something about his own abilities and capabilities. He has to learn these things in order to survive throughout the four seasons of a northeastern forest. And he has to come to grips with whether or not he wants to live around people again. By the end of the book, Sam is no longer just another anonymous city kid or just another member of this family of nine children. He knows how to live off the land, to live close to nature, and to read the clues of the animals and plants around him. He has learned what is most important to him. It is also important to Sam to prove to his father that he can succeed at this task. Sam is someone who set a goal, followed up on it, and not only survived, but succeeded. This is the kind of experience that can boost one’s confidence in oneself for many years to come. If you can do something like this, you can do anything.
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