The Character Of Marv In I Am The Messenger

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Similarly, the author of I am the Messenger shows the meaning of a good human being through Marvin Harris. Marv is known to be a person that only drinks, plays cards and works. The truth behind Marv’s story is that he has a daughter with a girl name Suzanne who he could not meet for a long time. Suzanne’s family is very ashamed of Suzanne getting pregnant with a person like Marv and decides to move away from the town. Marv feels guilty for putting Suzanne in a position like and tells his friend Ed Kennedy that “Fifty grand…I’m stopping at fifty. At first it was ten, then twenty but I just couldn’t stop. Paying off the guilt…But it isn’t money that’ll fix me…I want to touch that kid”(Pg.321). Looking at Marv’s character throughout the book,…show more content…
The main character Ed Kennedy learns to adopt better qualities of humanity. In one of his missions, he gives a family a warm welcoming Christmas, who is new to the neighborhood because no one has ever come to meet them or help them. Ed decides to “brighten up the Tatupu house this year”(Pg.221) by buying them Christmas lights exactly the same as the old ones and realizes that “It’s not a big thing, but I guess it’s true—big things are often just small things that are noticed”(Pg.221). Ed knows that buying the same lights is not huge and expensive, but he understands that small things are big. Money is not only thing that can make someone happy; it’s the littlest things that can bright up someone’s life, which is what the author shows in I am the Messenger. The desire for prosperity in The Great Gatsby contradicts to the quality of a good human being, which the author expresses. Similarly in the novel I am the Messenger, Ed’s good will leaves a mark on people’s heart as he delivers the messages. Ed finds out that the last three messages are about his closest friends and when he reaches the last he says “I don’t want to waste time. I’ve come so far since the holdup. I’ve plowed through eleven messages, and this is the last of them. The most important one”(Pg.330). This shows how Ed is determined and sets his mind forward…show more content…
Jay Gatsby commits his whole life waiting for the girl he loves even after knowing that she is married to someone else. Gatsby searches for Daisy by digging into the past, which shows that he still wants this relationship to work. Likewise in I am the Messenger; Marv does not run away from his responsibility, he tries to pay off his guilt. He tries to hold the relationship together by making himself worthy of Suzanne’s family, the girl he loves. Another good human quality is shown through the quality of wealth. Daisy from The Great Gatsby is seen to only value money because of the proper and settled life she wants to live. This is why she leaves Gatsby and marries Tom, which is contrary from the meaning of a human being. The novel I am the Messenger portrays the value of money differently than The Great Gatsby. The author shows how Ed Kennedy brings happiness in the Tatupu family by giving them a little gift. The author shows how little things are more worthy in life than big things. The other quality that is shown in both novels about the meaning of a good human is through altruism. Ed is an altruistic person; he chooses to help those that need him. Ed knows that he has to finish the last three missions anyhow because they were about his closest friends. Without any hesitation, he starts to

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