Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

Actions speak louder than words, and that's certainly what we see with the characters in Just Listen. We learn a lot about the characters' true selves in the way that they react to Will Cash's rape charges.

Annabel and Emily find the strength to testify against him (because they really are strong girls inside), Owen acts with compassion and love, Annabel's parents and sisters stand beside her, and Sophie just tries to ruin Emily's life for daring to press rape charges against her boyfriend. She's a terrible friend—and her actions in the face of her boyfriend doing some seriously messed up stuff just reinforces it. We also see how Whitney is actually strong and brave through the way in which she handles her treatment and struggles to improve.

Speech and Dialogue

Speech and language are very important in Just Listen because they show how the characters navigate their world and the people that they come into contact with. For example, it's clear that Sophie is a mean girl—every time she says something, it's snide or downright insulting. Owen, on the other hand, is sweet and understanding when he talks to people. He listens to everything that Annabel says without judgment and encourages her to speak up more.

Family Life

The Greenes have their fair share of family issues even if everything may look perfect from outside their beautiful glass house. A lot can be understood about the characters based off of their family interactions and how they relate to those around them.

For example, Annabel is the peacemaker in her family; she tries to stay out of trouble and take care of her mother and sisters. This means that she tries to stay in the background and doesn't want her own problems to be known. Whitney starts off damaged and angry with her family, but by the end she's healed, which we can see through the way she starts to talk to Kristen again and participate in their daily family life.

You can tell a lot about Owen too from his family life. Even though he professes that he's annoyed by Mallory all the time and that she makes him mad, he still loves her. He picks her up from school every day and is even the photographer when her friends come over to play photo shoot. He's a good guy despite his gruff, intimidating exterior.