ELIZA: A SHARED CHARACTER SKETCH

In “The Scream” by D.J. Wieler, Eliza is a young girl who

experiences big changes in her personality. The story is about Eliza and
how she overcomes her issues with self-image despite laughing classmates
and uncomfortable drama exercises. Throughout the story we see her
change through her dialogue, actions and how others react to her. It is
enjoyable to witness Eliza evolve as she moves from being nervous and
insecure about herself to a self-confident and courageous young woman.

In the beginning of the story it is easy to see that Eliza

is insecure about her physical appearance. She hates how her skin
looks and didn’t like the fact that “she was on medication for
eczema, but it wasn’t helping” (pg.88). She also thought that she
was “too tall and too skinny” (pg.88). This is also clear when the
narrator explains that she “wasn’t on friendly terms with mirrors”
(pg.88). Because Eliza is clearly insecure with herself, it is easy to
imagine how awkward she must have felt when her drama teacher
asked her to scream as loud as she could in the middle of the class.
Before her scream, Eliza was dreadfully scared of Todd Zudder
because in the past he bullied her by “pushing her in the
stairwell…down five stairs” (pg.88). After her scream, she didn’t
care what others thought about her and was proud to be herself.
For example, she “stepped out into the hallway, brushing past the
surprised face of Todd Zudder” (pg.92). This proves that Eliza is
proud of herself because she would never have walked so boldly
passed Todd Zudder. In the end, the scream transformed Eliza
from insecure to feeling proud about herself.
 Throughout the story, Eliza changes from being
embarrassed to courageous. In the beginning she is worried
about her socks not matching or having holes in them.
Eliza was also embarrassed around Todd Zudder because in
times before he had bullied her. The last thing she was
embarrassed about in the story was her dry and scaly skin
due to her eczema. She was embarrassed by this because
people made fun of her for it often calling her “lizard skin”
(pg.88). Eliza often “pretended she didn’t hear” (pg.89)
because she was too embarrassed to confront them. By the
end of the story, Eliza feels more courageous. She lets out
a huge scream that impresses the teacher (pg.92). Her
teacher actually states, “Now that was a scream.” (pg.92).
After releasing the scream Eliza felt more courageous and
didn’t care what others thought. She now had the courage
to participate openly and enthusiastically in drama class.

Continuing through the story Eliza also changes from

nervous to self-confident. When Eliza got to her drama
class the teacher, Mrs. Draginda, announced that in every
class the students must take off their shoes. Eliza first
shows her nervousness here as she worries about what her
socks might look like and what the other kids might say. I
know this because in the story it clearly says, “Eliza set
down her binder and untied her sneakers with trembling
fingers” (pg.89). This gives the reader a clue on her being
nervous. During the class Mrs. Draginda made all the
students scream, and when it came down to Eliza, she
panicked. Eliza had never screamed out loud before. It
had always been in her head. I know this because on page
91 it says “Eliza was panicking.” She had never been in
this situation before.

Eliza is a nervous and insecure girl who lacks self-

confidence throughout “The Scream”. She undergoes
changes in a very short drama class and it’s all because of
one drama activity. Right from the start Eliza shows her
nervousness and insecurity when she has to take off her
shoes for drama class. We learn that she’s insecure
because of her skin problems, and the way her classmates
talk and snicker about her leads to her lack of self-
confidence. We know that she has felt this way for a long
time because Eliza even ignores her classmates as they call
her “lizard skin” (pg. 89). Changes and developments in
her character take place when she is asked to scream as
loud as she can by her drama teacher. After getting
positive and surprised reactions from her “scream” she
starts to show self-confidence. She also becomes more
courageous as she nudges past her bully, Todd Zudder. She
walks down the hall after class proud to be herself and to
have gotten such amazing reactions from her teacher and
classmates. It is through her actions and inner thoughts she
changes from her nervous and insecure ways to a whole
new Eliza. As the reader, we can assume the rest of her
school year will be filled with self-confidence and courage.