Task 3 — Characters!

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The book I have ultimately chosen is “This Other Eden”, written by Pulitzer Award-winning author, Paul Harding. The book mostly centers itself around an island called Apple Island that is inhabited by the Honey-family. The book is narrated by a man called Ethan Honey, as he is not necessarily major in the main story.

Reading through the first pages, i quickly recognize and analyze the main character and protagonist: Benjamin Honey.

My first general impression of Benjamin as a person is that he is powerful, commanding and generally set on his goals in the story,- almost rigid. He is the founder of the island, but even though he is dead, his story is somehow still rang around and retold on the island. His relatives explain how confident and strong he is, caring for his close ones, as well as tending the gardens around the island,- something that naturally also sets him up for being the protagonist in this book, although it is pretty complicated. Because of his powerful and commanding self, he can also be perceived as arrogant, stubborn and being unwilling to changes or compromises with his fellow islanders. This fellow person is also incredibly independent, valuing sufficiency and distrusting the authorities above all.

All this complexity makes Benjamin a fully round character, as both his strengths and flaws are deeply intertwined and drive much of the books’s conflict. Benjamin being a round protagonist sets the other characters in the book up to foil around him, most of them being strong opposites to his strong, arrogant demeanor.

Choosing from a big variety of major and minor characters, i have found another, pretty important character within this engrossing, fascinating, simply spectacular piece of literature, — Esther Honey

As you have already read, the main character,- the protagonist of the story is Benjamin Honey, but his later descendants is often found supporting his image and legacy. Esther Honey is what one can call a foil, supporting character. She is found taking on Benjamin’s old tasks, nurturing her family, and devoting her life to Apple Island. Esther represents care, endurance and survival, being the backbone of the later generations coming from Benjamin Honey. My first impressions of her is that she is very warm and down to earth, expressing her love and affection through actions rather than words. Her responsibility and love for the island naturally foils around Benjamin’s round and arrogant character, accentuating their traits through contrast.

Esther is a supporting, major character in the book “This Other Eden”, and is more referred to as the leader of the community on the island, after Benjamin Honey. This shows that the Honey-family and their characters will be incredibly key to the book’s story and flow.

Thanks for reading with me! — Ola Bjæring-Houmb