Character Clues
Character Analysis
Actions
Talk about conflict. There are a ton of behavioral issues going on in this story that showcase how the characters relate to each other and move the action forward. The fact that there's a war on for the majority of this book doesn't help—a lot of the behavior characters express toward each other involves violence.
Check out Jonah Griggs, for instance. The guy has a super hot temper with a pretty cold affect, and as Taylor tells us, "He has perfected the art of looking straight ahead at someone while avoiding eye contact" (7.46). He's also seriously prone to violence: He beats the poop out of Santangelo at the Cadets' welcome picnic, "does his own dirty work" (6.12) by crushing Ben's fingers and giving him a black eye, and even tries to pick a fight with Taylor's childhood friend, Sam, on their trip to Sydney. Dude—we know you're a military man in training, but someone seriously needs to stick a daisy in your gun barrel.
Not everyone deals with conflict this way, though. Raffaela is a prime exception. When Taylor freaks out on her House after Chloe fails to tell her that Hannah called, does Raffaela go off on her reality-TV style and attack her? Nope. She quietly talks to her and explains to Taylor that she's out of line. "You know what your problem is?" she tells her. "It's that you're never interested in what anyone else is feeling" (10.38).
Whoa. Now that's a good friend. Maybe it's not the easiest thing for Taylor to hear, but Raffaela says what needs to be said in a way that's gentle and respectful, in contrast to Jonah's hotheadedness.
Direct Characterization
Let's do some narration recap for just a quick sec. This is a first-person narrative. Not only that, but our main character is seventeen years old. That means we're going to be getting an awful lot of descriptions of what Taylor thinks of the people around here. Because we're seeing the story through her eyes, it makes sense that she directly gives details about what we should expect from the characters.
For instance, she tells us that Hannah is "too young to be hiding away from the world and too smart to be merely organizing weekend passes for the kids in my dorm," and "thinks she has me all worked out" (1.4). This tells us a lot about Hannah, but also introduces some questions: If Hannah is too qualified to be helping at the school, why is she?
Another example comes from Taylor's descriptions of the faction leaders, particularly Chaz Santangelo. She tells us that he's "far too handsome for his own good, but at least he doesn't have that mean, hard, feral look that Townie leaders from the past have had" (3.60). Based on Taylor's appraisals of the people in her story, we know what to expect of their characters and actions.
Names
Okay Shmoopies—you might want to brush up on your biblical knowledge because we're about to go Old (and New) Testament on the characters of Jellicoe Road. Actually, you don't have to brush up on anything. We did all the homework for you. You're welcome.
Anyway. A bunch of the names in this book come from the Bible or other religious sources and work on multiple levels as allusions to help develop their characters.
Let's talk about Jude first, since the significance of his name is the only one explicitly explained. "St. Jude was the patron saint of the impossible—lost and desperate causes. I think he hit the jackpot in that department when he met the Markhams and Schroeders" (26.39). That about nails it, we think. By replanting the poppies on the Jellicoe Road, Jude took up the cause of the accident survivors and has stayed with them regardless of how hopeless things have looked over the years.
Jonah's another fun one. Remember his story? God commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh, a prosperous city and enemy of Israel that had gotten too full of itself and was about to fall under God's wrath. Jonah's assignment? Urge these unsavory souls to repent of their sins. This would be cool and everything, except Jonah didn't do that—he outright refused to go, and that, friends, is where the part about the giant fish comes in.
How does this relate to our Jonah Griggs? Like Jonah of old, Griggs, too, runs away from something—helping Taylor with her quest to find her mother. Instead of continuing on, he calls his school, the Brigadier shows up to get them, and Taylor totally hates his guts. Like Jonah in the Bible, though, he eventually takes up the task before him—and succeeds.