James is Helen’s half-brother, and with his negative attitude, he emphasizes the ‘half,’ desiring to distance his association with her. He wants Helen sent away to an asylum, out of sight and out of mind.
James feels no sympathy for Helen and shows little respect to his parents or Annie. When he meets Annie at the train station, he decides she is too young and inexperienced to deal with the uncontrollable Helen. He calls Annie...
James is Helen’s half-brother, and with his negative attitude, he emphasizes the ‘half,’ desiring to distance his association with her. He wants Helen sent away to an asylum, out of sight and out of mind.
James feels no sympathy for Helen and shows little respect to his parents or Annie. When he meets Annie at the train station, he decides she is too young and inexperienced to deal with the uncontrollable Helen. He calls Annie “half a governess” to emphasize his point.
He also scorns Annie’s attempts to teach Helen. One afternoon when he sees Annie trying to teach Helen finger spelling, he remarks, “You think she knows what she's doing? She's a monkey. She imitates everything.”
Later he tells Annie, “You'd be quite a handsome girl if it weren't for your eyes.” This isn’t exactly a terrific compliment!
But as James sees Annie’s amazing progress with Helen, his sour attitude toward Annie and even Helen begins to change. He supports Annie’s methods, even standing up to his father on her behalf:
“She's right, Kate's right, I'm right and you're wrong. If you drive her away from here it will be over my dead— chair, has it never occurred to you at on one occasion you might be consummately wrong?”
Despite his complete negativity throughout much of the play, at the end James respects and even likes Annie.
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