...Alida Lamagna 2/12/12 Literature and Composition Turner Nea: Saving Sourdi Character Analysis “Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, discusses a classic plot of the metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood. In her story, the two main characters Sourdi and Nea develop in stark contrast to one another. Nea, the younger sister, has difficulty growing up and maturing as her own life, as well as her sister’s life, progresses. Her naivety, aggression, and anxiety influence her decisions throughout the story in a negative way. Chai’s character is easily believable and relatable, everyone has had a point in their lives where they didn’t want to grow up, handled a situation poorly, or realized that their relationship with someone has changed drastically to the point of no repair. Nea, the protagonist in “Saving Sourdi”, is a tragic hero. We experience her attempts at protecting her sister and watch as they fail time and time again. Nea is a flat and static character. Throughout the story she does not change, she remains childish in her actions and decisions. Their mother addresses this issue early on by saying, “You not thinking. That your problem. You always not think!” (Chai 70) Chai does not show us another side to Nea making her a flat character. We see her in the same light despite the life lessons she experiences. Nea is the same drastic, hardheaded child in the beginning as she is in the end. Growing and maturing is crucial in life. Some people, however, suffer from a sort...
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...January, 20 2013 Round Character Analysis “Saving Sourdi” In this general response I choose the character Nea, Sourdi’s younger sister from the literature piece “Saving Sourdi”. This story was originally written by one of the world famous author’s Langston Hughes. In this story both Sourdi and her sister Nea is the two main characters discussed. Both Sourdi and her sister Nea display having a close bonding type of sister relationship. At the beginning of the story , the author discusses about how Sourdi and Nea’s mother once choose Sourdi’s husband for her to marry. Sourdi’s mother chose a wealthy man named Mr.Chhay whom also plays a large role in the story. In this story Nea, Sourdi’s younger sister is convinced that Sourdi’s husband Mr.Chhay is a bad man. At the beginning of the story Nea seems to be very skeptical about her sisters husband Mr.Chhay. Not only does Nea feel as if Mr.Chhay has already taken her sister Sourdi away from her. Also, Nea seems to be under the impression that Mr.Chhay is a bad man. In this literature piece Nea is determined to do anything in order to save her sister from what she thinks is an abusive relationship. The main character chosen for this piece of literature work Nea, known as Sourdi’s sister, comes off as a round character. A round character is one of the main characters that encounter conflict within the story are eventually changed because of it. As the literature book states “Round characters have more depth and require more...
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...The Character analysis of Saving Sourdi “The hardest part about growing up is letting go of what you were used to, and moving on with something you’re not.”- Kamari aka. Lyrikal Saving Sourdi is discussing a classic plot of the metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood. In her story, the two main characters Sourdi and Nea develop in distinct difference to each other. Nea, the younger sister, has difficulty growing up and maturing as her own life, as well as her sister’s life, progresses. Her naivety, aggression, and anxiety influence her decisions throughout the story in a negative way. Characters in this story are easily believable and relatable, everyone has had a point in their lives where they didn’t want to grow up, handled a situation poorly, or realized that their relationship with someone has changed drastically to the point of no repair. Nea, the protagonist, is a true hero. We can see her attempts at protecting her sister and watch as they fail time and time again. Nea is a flat and static character. Throughout the story she does not change, she remains childish in her actions and decisions. Their mother addresses this issue early on by saying, “You not thinking. That your problem. You always not think!” Growing and maturing is crucial in life. Some people, however. Nea can be described as an impulsive, strong-willed, and selfish adolescent who will never truly grow up. The family has never had it easy, always having to work and tolerate prejudice due to their...
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...Nea the Antagonist South Plains College April 20, 2015 Research Paper In May-Lee Chai’s “Saving Sourdi,” Nea would be the antagonist of the story if the literary development of point of view and characterization were different. Point of view and characterization in literature is what allows us to see, hear, and feel a story the way it is designed. An author’s attention to detail is crucial. He or she may put more focus into every small element in a setting or they may emphasize more on development of plot or character. Every literary piece is different. Point of view is an essential tool in arranging the world in a story that sets itself apart. Development of character can only begin after we know from where the story is coming. Chai writes “Saving Sourdi” in a first person point of view through a naïve character. We are “restricted to the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of [this] single character” (Meyer 138). For the rest of my analysis it is important to remember this. The narrator tells a story of the two main characters and the relationship between them. The actions of our immature main character throughout the time of this story takes place continue to fail her, creating contrast between the two of them. The reader can tell this is happening, but because the story comes to us from this first person narrative, we also know that Nea truly believes she is doing the right thing. We can always know too much or too little of what we are supposed...
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...Reyes 1 Melissa C. Reyes Professor Marilyn S. Turner English M102 13 February 2016 Character Analysis “Saving Sourdi” by Nay-Lee Chai is a story of sisterhood from childhood to adulthood. The two main characters in the story are Nea, the younger sister and Sourdi, the older sister. The story is narrated by Nea and what she discusses is her difficulty growing up. Chai’s character is very relatable as we all have may have had some moments in our life when our parent’s have said something along the lines of what the girls’ mother says to Nea, “You not thinking. That your problem. You always not think!” (82). She also indirectly discusses the contrast between herself and Sourdi and how her aggressive thoughts and actions influence her decisions but also define who Nea is as a character. Nea is very much a static character from beginning to end. She does not develop at all at any point during the story. Nea from the get go is the protagonist in her sister’s life. The story starts off very dark as she describes that she was only eleven years old when she stabbed one of the drunk men in their families restaurant. She describes Sourdi as looking distressed when one of the men grabbed her and kept holding her tighter as her sister begged to be let go. Nea goes to the kitchen and sees a knife and that is what she saw as the solution to their problem. She leaves the kitchen with the knife and begins to wave the knife at the men. They start laughing and Nea Reyes...
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