Step by Wicked Step Q12

Compare and contrast 2 characters in the novel you have studied. Discuss with close reference to the text.


                       The novel I have studied is Step By Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. In the novel, five schoolchildren read the journal of Richard Clayton Harwick which detailed his sad story of family life with a stepfather. The five schoolchildren who came from broken homes were prompted to relate their own family life story. Claudia and Colin are the two characters I have chosen to compare and contrast.


                       Although Claudia and Colin are two differing characters, they also have some similarities. Both Colin and Claudia come from broken or separated families. They both have step parents.


                       Colin and his mother left his father when he was a few weeks' old. His mother takes up with a person whom he thinks of as his father when Colin was just eight months old. This stepfather really cared for Colin. "... you can talk to him. And he remembers what you say. He'd know the names of all my friends,...". However, his immature mother also leaves this stepfather after a while because he does not have a proper job. 
                    
                        Now he misses him so badly that it hurts him so much."...I'd hum our favourite song...".
Jack is the only 'father' figure Colin ever knows. However, Colin's mother leaves Jack after a while. This causes him to miss Jack so badly.


                       On the other hand, Claudia's father has left her mother for another woman, Stella. Claudia feels disloyal to her mum whenever she has a good time with her father and his new girlfriend. "... I'd be as much to blame as him for all the horrid changes I never wanted". Even though Stella tries her best to be accepted by Claudia and her daddy's friends, she is being ignored.


                       Finally, Claudia realises her rudeness and she comes out of her closet by wearing the green pyjamas given by Stella. "These are the pyjamas you bought me. Aren't they beautiful?". Both Colin and Claudia really want their parents to reconcile as they pine for how it used to be when they were happy.


                       In retrospect, Colin and Claudia both faced similar and contrasting problems in their lives.