After
analysing the novel ‘Step by Wicked Step’, I learned that all the six
characters, Richard, Claudia, Colin, Ralph, Pixie and Robbo come from a
dysfunctional family. It is obvious that these children are struggling with
their new lives after their parents started to face problems in their marriage.
Their decisions affected their children emotionally in different ways. One of
the characters that I sympathise with most is Colin.
One
of the reasons why I sympathise with Colin is because he was forced into a new
surrounding where it was hard for him to fit in. After his mother took a flit
with him away from his step-dad, he entered into a new school. In that new
school, he was not able to make new friends as they already had their own
friends. “It wasn’t nice for me. For one thing, I had to start at another
school, where everyone had friends already” page 52, line 25.
In my opinion, the reason why I
felt sympathy towards Colin is because he was expected to get over the absence
of his stepfather after his mother took a flit with Colin. He was expected to
adapt to a new life. However, it is hard to do this without any guidance or
attention from his mother. In times like this, the only person for Colin to turn
to would be his mother as a mother plays the role of giving her child moral
support and advice through tough times. However, his mother was too busy
working jobs that take long hours to make sure there is food on the table. By
the time she comes home, she would be too tired to even talk to Colin. Like
said before, Colin had to go to a new school but he had no friends there and he
couldn’t fit in. Because of this, he didn’t have any friends to turn to either.
Colin had a very close relationship with his stepfather, even closer than the
one he has with his own mother. His stepfather is the one that always plays
with him, listens to him and tells him stories. It is not hard to understand
why Colin finds it hard to live without his stepfather’s presence. After five
years, Colin still has not got used to things. In fact, he thinks about his
father every day. This is proven in page 60 line 5 in the novel where Colin
says, ‘But I haven’t got used to it! And I never will! I think about him every
single day.’ Not only that, his inability to cope with his new life had caused
the downfall in his grades. Being in a new school in a community of people
alien to him, it adds to the feeling of forlornness and loneliness. This
situation made him long for the presence of his father even more. In the end he
decided that he wants to go in search for his father when he is finally of age
to leave home.
Each of the character had some
sort of a happy ending, or at least a resolve to a problem. They saw the small
pinpoint beam of light at the end of the tunnel, speaking metaphorically,
except for Collin whom still suffered silently. As I do not come from a
dysfunctional family, I can only imagine how hard it must be to have one person
you are most attached to and then in a flash you have to cope without that one
person or being in a completely new environment where you can’t fit in. For
Colin to experience it for real, it makes me sympathise with him.
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