Essays

Characterization of Job

In the novel "Hearts and Minds", written by Amanda Craig, Job is one of the main characters. His story stretches through the whole novel and is linked to the other main characters. Job is a 22 years old male and a Christian believer. He was born in Zimbabwe, Africa, where he grew up at Wisdin's residence because his father died very early. Job enjoyed playing with Wisdin's daughter, but one day witnessed how she was raped without being able to help her. Since then he has squalors and feels guilty about it. Because of this he wants to help other people, hoping to compensate the past. Therefore he is a helpful person. When he married his wife Muniska he voted for the "wrong party" in his country. Therefore he was tortured and persecuted so he gathered all the money he could get to flee to London with a fake student visa. In London he earns his living as a taxi driver with a fake drivers license but has to work a second job as a car washer to send enough money to his wife and his sister's family. This shows how hard he is working and that he doesn't restrain from twilight economy. He speaks English fluently due to the Wisdins family, is very sophisticated and likes Shakespeare. Even if many other taxi drivers discriminate him he is willing to help Tarique's son read Harry Potter, which shows his friendly and helpful character. He also wanted to help Anna out of prostitution. But he sees his own home country as hell and as the worst thing ever because of his bad experiences in the past. He has a strong personality, even if he is confronted with a lot of discrimination and hate against him, he never gives up und still keeps on working hard, about 16 hours a day, and sending money to his wife and sister even if he hasn’t heard from them in a long time. At the end he shows his bravery by stopping the terrorist Selim from suicide bombing. For that he became some kind of a hero. At the end he still goes back to Zimbabwe to his beloved wife Muniska.