Character summary & Characterisation The Spare Room Character summary & Characterisation

Protagonist The central character, or the one whose name comes to mind when you ask the question, "Whose story is this?“ Akira is the central character and is a protagonist in the novel. (Note: there can be more than one protagonist in a novel)

Sympathetic Characters Kathryn Lomer (The author) uses sympathetic characters in the novel, ‘The Spare Room’, to position us (The reader) to understand, relate to, and like the characters. A Sympathetic character is one whose motivations readers can understand and whose feelings they can comfortably share. As readers we are positioned to understand and feel for the characters in the novel. In The Spare Room we feel particularly sympathetic towards Akira.

Sympathetic Characters Akira: As readers we are positioned to understand and feel for Akira because of the challenges Akira is facing: dealing with the death of his best friend studying and living in another country learning a new language Getting used to Australian culture Living in a homestay where the family barely speak to one another and where Angie seems to hate him.

Sympathetic Characters Alex: As readers we are also positioned to understand and feel for Alex because: He is looking after the household and has no job. He also takes the time to be kind and welcoming to Akira. We learn of the recent death of his son Joey. This makes us like him and hope his family situation improves.

Sympathetic Characters Angie: As readers we are also positioned to understand and feel for Angie. While Angie is bitter, angry and rude to Akira throughout the novel, Lomer positions the readers to suspect that there is more to why Angie acts the way that she does. Despite her actions, we are still positioned to like her character and feel sympathetic towards her. She is clearly struggling to cope with losing her brother and having Akira come in to their family at a time where they are grieving and distant from each other. We are also positioned to feel sympathetic for Akira who tries to build a friendship with her from the beginning but constantly rejects his attempts.

Developing Characters A character who changes over the course of the story. The central character is often but not always a developing character. However, it's crucial that the action of the story causes some character to change. Through Akira’s experiences in Australia, he develops and changes through the course of the novel to take control of his life different to the way his Japanese parents had planned for him.