Free College Essays - The Optimists Daughter :: The Optimists Daughter

The Optimists Daughter   The major characters in The Optimists Daughter are Judge McKelva, Becky Mckelva, bay wreath Mckelva, Wanda Fay, Dr. Courtland, throw away Adele Courtland, Tish Bullock, Major Bullock, Miss Tennyson, and Miss Missouri. Becky Mckelva was Judge Mckelvas wife before she died and had decoration Mckelva with him. Wanda Fay remarried Judge Mckelva after his wifes death. Dr. Courtland did surgery on Becky Mckelva and the final operation on Judge Mckelva. Miss Adele Courtland is the sister of Dr. Courtland and is a brides maid to medallion McKelva. Tish Bullock is also a brides maid to ribbon and is the daughter of Miss Tennyson and Major Bullock. Miss Tennyson is another brides maid to Laurel McKelva and is married to Major Bullock. Miss Missouri is the maid to the McKelvas and a long time friend of the family.   3.1 Two main characters in The Optimists Daughter are Wanda Fay and Laurel McKelva. Wanda Fay is a woman in her 40s and has the matur ity of a child. Whenever she becomes mad, Fay starts to scream, point fingers, and search out people who get out help her. She can not stand up and fight for herself, instead Fay uses tactics to make her opponent feel sorry or inferior. This makes her extremely hard to get along with since she is always demanding and never giving. Laurel McKelva is the complete opposite of Wanda Fay. She is kind hearted, nice, caring, and intelligent. Laurel has a air of maturity and understanding around her due to her experiences in life.   3.3 In "The Optimists Daughter" Judge McKelva will soon enter eye surgery to fix a slipped retina. Judge McKelva, his daughter, Laurel, and his new wife, Fay, are all anxious about the surgery and what might happen. distinction mother died from cancer that started with her eyes and the family fears that the judge might be suffering from the same illness. The surgery symbolizes a fear that is contained by the three main characters and is a form o f foreshadowing. As mentioned by Laurel several times, she fears that her father might not make it out of the operation and die, like her mother, blind and confused. I anticipate that Judge McKelva will not make it through the surgery or he will die shortly afterwards. With such a sudden death, Laurel and Fay will not have time to say good-bye to him and this will lead to complications later in the book.