Gary Schmidt's Trouble Character Analysis

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Imagine having a perfect life without trouble and then all of the sudden your whole life shatters in one freak accident. This is how Henry Smith felt in the book Trouble. Henry’s father always said “If you build your house far away from trouble, trouble will never find you.” Everything was working in his life he went to a great school, had some good friends, had a good relationship with his family, and had a nice house. That was until one night when Henry’s older brother Franklin got hit by a car on his usual 5 mile run. In Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble, Henry has to grow as a young man. With his brother dying in a brutal car accident, finding out the truth about his brother, and having to go on an adventure with his brothers alleged murderer. …show more content…

This is when they were arguing with the fisherman in the forest. The fisherman were mad at Chay and wanted to beat him up and maybe even kill him. “Henry reached out for one of the branches, a thick one, burning at one end. He stood. He drew his arm back” (264). When the annoying fishermen tried to hurt Chay, Henry jumped in and saved him. Henry just could've let them beat up Chay but he had Chays back. I think Henry realized for a split second that it wasn’t really Chay’s fault that his brother died it was just an accident and it wasn’t worth Chay’s life. Henry got a stick out of the fire and threw it at the one of the fishermen. Next, Chay swam in the middle of the lake and tried drowning himself in the lake on the voyage to Mount Katahdin. “Chay. Who suddenly in the darkness through a tired and dripping hang out of the water and over the side of the canoe. His cold fingers grasped it, and almost let go-until Henry grabbed his wrist” (215). Henry then saves the life of drowning Chay in the middle of a lake. He could've just let that man who killed his brother die in the lake and pretend he didn't see anything but he decided it was the right thing to do and he saved Chay’s life. He pulled Chay on board the boat. Henry grew as a character immensely in these scenes; he truly forgave Chay for what he did to his family and probably saved Chay’s life in both

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