Miniver Cheevy Character Analysis

Miniver Cheevy, in “Miniver Cheevy,” has a few character traits that show his true personality. The reader sees his traits as being single, of a low social status, a drunk, and being lazy. The author shows many other traits in the short story, but these three are what make his personality. His overall personality as being an underachiever is seen in the character traits.

To begin with, being single can bring a lack of self-confidence in a person. Cheevy is seen as single in the poem when it is stated, "He mourned Romance…” (Robinson 15), it shows that he was sad that he had no one to love in life. Love is essential in everyone’s life and allows those to bring confidence to themselves, which in turn gives them more drive to be an over achiever. In his case, since he has no one, it would make sense that he is seen as an underachiever.

In addition to him being single, Miniver is also seen as being of a low social class if a part of any class. This is seen when it is stated in the poem, “Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, / Grew lean while he assailed the seasons” (1-2). This shows that he was born into a low social class family, that did not have a lot of food or money. When one does not feel included in a group or class, they are set to underachieve in life. They start to believe that what they have is all they are good for. In Cheevy’s

Being lazy is the characteristic of underachievement. He is seen as being lazy in the poem when it states, “And dreamed, and rested from his labors” (10). This shows that instead of working or doing anything, that he decides to rest and dream of an overachieving life. Not only does the poem make us perceive him as lazy, but his name also alludes that he is an underachiever. It could be seen that Miniver means minimal and Cheevy as an achiever. Although these are speculations, they make a good point that the author wanted to let us know in the beginning that the character was an