I agree that great literature will always involve characters
that learn through their journey, not their destination. In the novel, The
Messenger by Marcus Zusak a character named Ed Kennedy who is a “nobody” in a
“dead end town” who is delivered mysterious playing cards with people’s
addresses on them. At each address he finds someone in need of help and subsequently
receives another card when he has helped each person and so his journey begins.
Along the way, Ed learns that he, like everyone else, has the potential to be
extraordinary if they break free from the limitations in their lives which also
relates to the reader too. Zusak uses character development, conflict, pathetic
fallacy and a motif of light to help show us that Ed learns more from his
journey than from the destination.
Firstly, the use of character development for Ed Kennedy is
a technique used by Zusak to show readers that Ed progressively becomes
stronger mentally and that everyone has the potential to be extraordinary. At
Edgar Street, Ed has to overcome his fear and scare the man away from hurting
his family. At first Ed finds it difficult to help because Ed is not a strong
person physically and is worried that the whole thing may potentially backfire
as the other man is physically stronger and bigger than him. This is where the
readers know that the journey is where characters learn more than their
destination because here Ed’s character develops. He finds the idea of killing
the man difficult therefore he has to confront and surpass the limitations
within although his “heart begins to suffocate me”. Ed learnt that his physical
size should not hold him back in life but to have confidence in himself to
break free from constraints. Sometimes we underestimate ourselves such as Ed in
the Sledge Game when he manages to tackle Mimi who is much larger than him. Readers
and Ed learn from this journey to give every opportunity a try despite how
difficult it may seem because we do not know our maximum potential till we have
achieved or failed a task.
Further along Ed’s journey, another development in his
character was noticed when he confronts his mother. Ed asks why she hates him
compared to the rest of his brothers and sisters. Ed finds this task difficult
because he feels he has let his mother down because of his career and
lifestyle. This is difficult also because by talking to her he is opening
himself up for more hurt as he discovers the truth. During this journey he
develops from this challenge by confronting his mother because he has removed
the power his mother once has in his life. He discovers that “it takes a lot of
love to hate you like this” and knows what he needs to change in his life to
make his mother proud of him. This journey has been an important milestone in
Ed’ character development, we learnt that although the truth is ugly, we need
to face it. The reality is, the problem exists, and we can’t hide from it or
avoid it because it may make it even worst. We have to learn to deal with it
and move on in order to succeed in life.
The use of pathetic fallacy and the light motif also helps
readers agree that characters learn more from their journey than their
destination. Pathetic fallacy in “The Messenger” is used when dawn breaks open
upon the stones of home. “The world is lightening, taking shape and turning to
colour...I see us there.... I breathe out. Happy”. The idea of dawn portrays to
readers an image of a new beginning to Ed’s life and it is this journey where
he learns that how happy he is when he thinks about childhood. The dawn
represents a turning point in Ed and his life. This is signs of a great
literature because Ed has learnt that he is still not too late to make a change
in his life and realise his potential. It showed us how important childhood
memories are because that is when we are at the most worry-free and happy
because we still do not have to live in the ‘real world’ yet where we encounter
many stress causing life problems. The motif of light is used in The Messenger when Ed buys the Tatupu family a
new set of Christmas lights and discreetly places it on the porch. He is then
invited to see “the old fibro house” being “lit up”. He mentions that “the lights
are so beautiful that they seem to hold the house up by themselves” and mentions
that it is about “small things that are big”. Although the lights are small,
the action of buying them is small but the result means a lot to the Tatupu
family. Ed and the readers have learnt from this journey that extraordinary isn’t
all about big actions and achievements but meaningful ones. It makes us
question what little changes we can make in our own lives that will have meaningful
results for us and for others.
To conclude, it has been shown that characters learn more
from their journey than their destination as shown by Ed because as the novel
progresses, his character develops into a better/more capable person than
before. A great literature is judged on that because readers can see how the character
‘grows’ as a result of a challenge and without this readers would not be able
to understand or appreciate a novel as well.