Finny transforms Mr. Prud’homme, an instructor of the summer session at Devon, from serious to stern through indirect and direct characterization shown by syntax and diction using his virtuous, energetic and rambling personality. This happens during Mr. Prud’homme’s meeting with the Gene and Finny one morning to discuss their absence at dinner the night before. Gene describes Mr. Prud’homme insatiably by stating “Mr. Prud’homme stopped at our door. He was broad-shouldered, grave, and wore a gray business suit. He did not have the careless, almost British look of most of the Devon masters, because he was a substitute for the summer. He enforced such rules as he knew, missing dinner was one of them.” (Knowles 21). Mr. Prud’homme is directly characterized …show more content…
Mrs. Lepellier is also indirectly characterized as angry through the negative connotation and the denotation of the verb “abuse”, to treat with cruelty or violence. Gene’s rambling personality, indirectly characterized through asyndeton and run-on sentences, transforms Mrs. Lepellier from angry to pleased. As Mrs. Lepellier helps Leper up, Gene attempts to apologize and stutters, “I’m terribly—it was a mistake” I listened objectively to my own voice, “he said something crazy. I forgot my self—I forgot that he’s, there’s something the matter with his nerves, isn’t there? He didn’t know what he was saying.” (Knowles 145-146) The repeated commas and hyphens, the asyndeton, in Gene’s apology to Mrs. Lepellier indirectly characterizes Gene as rambling which is similar to Finny. Leper invites Gene to stay for lunch despite their argument. Gene decides to accept Leper’s invitation and stays for lunch. He transforms Mrs. Lepellier from angry to calm throughout the lunch, Gene describes the lunch “It was an abundant Vermont lunch, more like a dinner, and at first, it had no …show more content…
Mrs. Lepellier is also shown to be transformed through direct characterization and diction. She is directly characterized as transformed through the phrase “But this led to this hard to believe transformation” The denotation of the word transformation, a thorough or dramatic change, directly characterizes Mrs. Lepellier as transformed. The denotation of the words describing her voice support Mrs. Lepellier’s transformation from angry to calm. She is indirectly characterized as calm through the denotation of modulated in the description of her voice “her high but gentle and modulated voice”, which means controlled and pleasant to listen to. Before Gene transforms her, she is indirectly characterized as angry through punctuation and diction. Gene transforms Mrs. Lepellier using his similar rambling personality characterized through the asyndeton. Mrs. Lepellier is directly characterized to be transformed to calm through denotation and indirectly characterized through the denotation of her changed tone of voice. Does Gene’s transformation of Mrs. Lepellier from angry to calm show Finny’s similarity to Gene because they both use their rambling personalities to transform minor characters? Yes, it