Character Clues

Character Analysis

Family Life

Family is a pretty big deal in Chomp. Wahoo's got a great one after all, and Tuna doesn't. Mickey loves and supports Wahoo, listening to him and considering his perspective when making his own decisions. For instance, when Wahoo tells Tuna she can tag along to the Everglades and hands his dad money to buy some extra food, Mickey takes the hint and decides not to confront Jared Gordon (9.18). Mickey is willing to sacrifice his life for Wahoo, like when he steps in between Jared and his son and gets shot (25.81-84). This was no accident on Mickey's part—he totally intended to do whatever it took to keep Wahoo safe. In fact, all he thinks about during his kidnapping is keeping Jared away from the kids.

Jared, on the other hand, is absolutely no good. He does a lot of things that make him a bad father, including giving Tuna a black eye with his fist and firing at the airboat with Link, Tuna, and Wahoo aboard. He could have shot and killed any one of them—even his own daughter—and ends up shooting an innocent person: Link. What was his intention, anyway? We don't know, but it is clear that Tuna's safety was not on his mind (19.90).

Food

One way we see the difference in wealth and class between Derek and the Crays is the type of food they eat. Out in the Everglades, while the Crays and Tuna eat hotdogs, chips, and Gatorade, Derek has full gourmet meals catered by a staff of professional chefs.

Occupation

Mickey does hard, honest work, and is skilled at his occupation handling dangerous, wild animals with tact and patience. Mickey has become an expert at his job and he enjoys what he does. His job also allows him to spend a lot of time at home with his son, which is very important to him.

Derek, however, has only gotten good at pretending to be a survivalist by faking nearly every aspect of his job. He even has a stunt man do the parachute jump for him. Also, he pays a lot of money to have wranglers like Mickey rent out their trained animals that are tame and won't mind being mishandled… usually. A byproduct of all his fakeness seems to be that Derek is perpetually unhappy and lives alone.