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Girls Like Us Character Analysis

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Bethany Hamilton, a shark attack survivor once stated, "Courage doesn't mean you get afraid. Courage means you don't let fear stop you." Author, Gail Giles wrote the novel Girls Like Us about two special ed high school graduates named Biddy and Quincy. They end up living together in the real world helping out an elderly lady named Elizabeth. Though they struggle in the beginning with their friendship, a tragic incident draws them closer than they ever imagined. Despite all the struggles the girls have faced, they found their shining light through having courage and building up confidence. Courage is enhanced through the symbolic use of objects and character development. Throughout the novel, the shy and secluded Biddy, was unable to function in public situations without her coat which is symbolically used as her shield, until she realized that she shouldn't let her rape define the way she leads her life, and, with her newfound courageousness, is able to put her coat away forever. “I watched her go in the store. I walked fast and hard back to our home. I hung up my coat. I looked at it for a long time. I felt some ashamed. If Quincy had the gumption to go to work, why was I so scaredy that I had to wear my coat? I closed the closet door. I wasn’t gonna wear it no more.” (Giles 170). Biddy is the type of girl …show more content…

Biddy was a shy, secluded girl who gained the courage of going out in public without her coat despite her past. Courage allowed a reluctant Quincy turn in Robert and his friend for his heinous act. Last, going from foster home to foster home and not having a structured family in her life, Quincy accepted Biddy and Miss Lizzy into her life, which for quincy took quite some courage. Biddy and Quincy were able to overcome difficult tasks in life by having audacity to overcome obstacles they thought they would never

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