Garnet’s Character Transformation (Essay Sample)

Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Introduction
The novel Stones by William Bell discusses the death of a black woman who was stoned to death in Ontario, Canada in the 19th century (Sherie, 2001). This novel explores issues on race, spirituality and science and is narrated by a contemporary teenager called Garnet. He usually views the world in terms of science and is very practical, but he develops feelings for Raphaella, a girl who believes in spirituality and romance. With her help, he investigates the meaning of a nightmare he has involving the stoned black woman. This whole experience leads Garnet to have a significant change in character.
Garnet’s character transformation
When the story starts, Garnet is portrayed as a practical teenager who does not believe in things like love at first sight, romance and spirituality. Although he is logical, he contradicts himself by falling deeply in love with Raphaella. He shows this logic when talking about Romeo and Juliet in class by saying that what they felt for each other was lust and not love; they just wanted to get into each other’s clothes (Bell, 2003 p.23). When he chooses to drop out of school and instead work in his father’s shop, his mother does not approve. He is torn between what he wants and what his mother wants. However, he has come to the realization that he knows what he wants to do with his life, and that this life is just beginning (Bell, 2003 p.30).
His strange experiences in the trailer park lead to his decision to become open-minded about spirituality and its effect on the world. From Raphaella, he learns that names have meanings, including his own. Not everything is based on science, and technology does not have all the answers. His initial belief that the modern world does not have anything to do with superstitions and old beliefs changes when he explores the reason why he is hearing voices in the forest. Gradually, his skepticism is eroded and he begins to understand that the voices he heard are real. His encounter with Hanna marks a turning point in his though processes. His main focus in the story is to find out why the spirits are always appearing at night. This is something he would have been very skeptical about previously.
Garnet learns that old prejudices and persecutions can still occur even in the present world. He gains this understanding by comparing what happens to his mother Annie while she was on a trip to Indonesia, and what happened to Hannah. Annie is persecuted for what she was wearing, while Hannah was persecuted for what she believed in. He begins to understand that people can be close minded and prejudiced, and it does not matter in which era they live in.
After these incidents, Garnet develops a deeper relationship with Raphaella. The relationship started out of love and Garnet did not know that he would gain a deeper understanding of Raphaella’s world and in turn become convinced to change his world view. As both of them scramble to discover the mysteries surrounding them, they become closer to each other, and Garnet has a desire to know more about Raphaella. The reader gets the sense that Garnet feels as if he is caged in his life and that he desires freedom. This is shown when he discusses a room that a person likes being in, but when forced to stay in it, he becomes resentful (Bell, 2003 p.200).
In the twelfth grade, he starts putting effort into going to school, attaining good grades, finishing his education properly and graduating. He realizes that he wants to make his mother happy when she comes back from East Timor (Bell, 2003 p.206).
When he begins to rebuild the wall outside the cabin where Hanna was murdered, he feels as if he i