Character Clues

Character Analysis

Eyes

Eyes are the windows to the soul… or so the saying goes. And in Al Capone Does My Shirts, this seems to be pretty true—eyes give us a real sense of who a character is. So let's dig in.

In Chapter 2, Moose describes Natalie. He's trying to tell us how she's different than he is, and the color of their eyes shows this difference really well: "Different eyes, though. Mine are brown. Hers are green like the marbles nobody likes to trade away" (2.59). Natalie's eyes sound really pretty and unusual, right? Not that there is anything boring about brown eyes, but compared to his eyes, Natalie's are rare. And compared to Moose, Natalie's pretty rare, too.

Now for Piper. We don't get the color of her eyes, but when Moose meets her, he says that she "looks at me through half-shut eyelids" (3.45). What could this mean: Suspicion? Boredom? Curiosity? Well, it definitely gives her a kind of glamorous, slightly provocative look—especially since Moose says that "something about the way she does this makes me glance down to make sure my fly is buttoned" (3.45). Right away, and just with her eyes, Piper's running the show.

The warden also has eyes that match his personality perfectly. Moose describes the "heat of his intense blue eyes" (6.49), which is odd since blue isn't a color we usually describe as hot. But as we explore on the warden's page in the "Characters" section, this dude's kind of a mixed bag—just like the way his eyes are described.

Family Life

Family is a major theme in this book, and the way characters interact with their families tells us a whole lot about who they are. Piper, for instance, manipulates the warden who—in turn—spoils her rotten. In Piper's case, this relationship to her dad lets us know just how deceptive she is; she'd rather set her friends up to take the fall than fess up for her actions to her pop. On the flipside, the warden's willingness to defend his daughter blindly reveals both a softer side to this hard dude, as well as fallibility—he's not quite so on top of things as he usually appears.

Within the Flanagan clan, how people relate to each other speaks volumes. We have loads to say about this over on Moose, Natalie, and Mr. and Mrs. F's pages in the "Characters" section, though, so hop on over to read more.