Character Analysis: I Am The Messenger

Does your mother ever say that you will never amount to anything? If no, great, you have a decent mother. If yes, then you might be able to relate to the main character in Markus Zusak’s book; I am the Messenger. In this novel, Ed Kennedy a nineteen year old, illegal cab driver, starts getting cards in the mail that mysteriously leave him with difficult missions that involve helping complete strangers. A major obstacle in Ed’s life is his difficult mother who constantly belittles him. Ed’s deep-rooted self-esteem issues are from his mother’s persistent verbal abuse. As the novel progresses, Ed’s confidence grows from his ability to complete the missions and the sense of accomplishment he receives from helping others. Therefore, Zusak shows …show more content…
Ed thinks that he will never escape his small town and that he will drive a taxicab for his entire life. He is afraid that he will never do anything and end up like his father, a dead drunk, just like his mother has told him he will. Ed’s mother’s choice of words when talking to her son is condescending. She constantly calls him rude names and treats his badly. She calls Ed and is angry on the phone because he forgot to pick up her coffee table. Ed answers, “Yeah, hi, love” and since his mother is mad at him, she responds “Don’t ‘Yeah, hi, love me, you little bastard” (27). She continues to yell at Ed for forgetting the table she asked him to bring to her house. Her choice of words with him has a huge affect on Ed as she calls him “dickhead” and “wanker” (27). In response Ed is passive, as he has learned to accept that he is less than his siblings. She treats his other three siblings very well and only picks on him. Ed’s other siblings have all left town and are living happy lives with their own families. Towards the end of the novel Ed’s mother finally tells him that he reminds her of her dead husband, but says that she hates him out of love. “Believe it or not - it takes a lot of love to hate you like this” (245). His mother just admitted that she does love Ed as she loved her husband whom she also thought was worthless. She does not realize that …show more content…
His motivation is not only to finish the cards but also to prove to his mother that he can make a life for himself in their small town. After another argument, Ed finally tells his mother what he feels; “It’s the person, Ma, not the place. If you’d left here you would’ve been the same anywhere else. If I ever leave this place I’ll make sure I’m better here first” (283). His mother’s issue with Ed is that he never left their town and bettered himself, just like his father. She thinks that nothing can happen for him in that town and uses his siblings as examples of what he can do with his life. He could get married and have a family or go to university if he leaves the town. As Ed explains, no matter where he goes he will be the same person he has always been; changing your location does not change your personality. At the end of the novel when Ed completes all the cards, the bank robber that appeared in the beginning gets in his cab to show him how far Ed has come since his first card. When they first met, the robber had said to Ed that every time he looked in the mirror he would see a dead man. The bank robber’s statement symbolized that Ed thought of himself as dead on the inside and had no motivation in life. However as Ed completed the cards, he gained more confidence and satisfaction from the reactions of the people he was helping. The

Show More

Everyman Analysis Essay

film flake Essay

Global Business Cultural Analysis South Korea Essay

GRADE 10 ENGLISH Essay examples

A Study On Effectiveness Of Advertisement In Telecom Industry

The Science Of Proteomics

Love: Communication and Transmission View Essay

Business Plan for Incase Essay

Sources of Ethics Essay