“Finding Forrester” by James W. Ellison

We just finished the novel “Finding Forrester” by James W. Ellison in our English class. Our teacher wants us to focus on characters now, to do some exercises. So I focus on the character of Jamal, the main character in the book. Jamal, a sixteen year old black male teenager is raised by his mother, the father left the family years ago. That’s when Jamal, he felt betrayed of not having a strong, guiding father- the ideal of every young boy. Someone to look up, someone to ask a little boy’s questions. Questions his mother never would be able to answer. At the same time he was desperate because of the agony his beloved mother was going through, her loneliness without a husband, the heavy load of raising two children all by herself without any support. “God knows it wasn’t easy bringing up a young male in the South Bronx without a father-especially a young black male.” Because Jamal can sense how much also his mother suffered. It seems like Jamal never forgave his Father for leaving, when thinking of him it always was full of bitterness or resentment, full of dark thoughts. Reading and writing was his way to escape, his way out of his sad reality.