“Long walk to forever”

by Kurt Vonnegut

Characterisation of the characters

The two characters presented in this literary text are Newt and Catharine. Throughout the following, a moral
portrait of each character is developed through dialogue, revealing their personalities. Thus, Newt is
indirectly characterized, being presented as a brave, capable, bold man, who does not give up easily, trying
to conquer Catharine through subtle gestures and actions, even on her wedding day "Could you come for a
walk?", "By taking you for a walk, I'll be giving him a rosy bride.", and throughout the writing one can see
the insistence on the man's desire to walk with Catharine, which may signify his desperation to make her
stay with him, to call off the wedding. A remarkable gesture he makes is his return from the army, without
leave, which results in his imprisonment for 30 days, just so he can be with the woman he loves
"Furlough?....I'm not on furlough.....I'm what they call A.W.O.L.", "Thirty days in the stockade, that's what
one kiss will cost me." It shows his boldness, but also his self-confidence, seeming to know that he will win
her over in the end, or, at least hope for it eagerly. Furthermore, Newt was shy, but tried to hide his shyness
from the world "He was a shy person, even with Catharine". His gestures and words of tenderness towards
the woman show the sincerity of his love, as well as a way of softening her up, making her open her heart to
him, slowly giving in to her feelings for him "Because I love you", "Remember me from time to time.
Remember how much I loved you.", "And he did what he had to do. He kissed her.". In Newt's words, one
can also discover the obvious jealousy against Catharine's future husband, using sarcastic lines towards him,
such as "You really love him?", "What's good about him?", "Dream of your wonderful husband-to-be." At
the end of the text, the man chooses to say the words that make Catharine rethink all her decisions, having
an impact on her, which makes the woman realize that she wants to be by his side "Marry me, Catharine?"
In terms of Newt's characterization, we can say that he is a character who piques interest, knows his goals, is
confident, has a sincere love for Catharine and is willing to take risks to be with her. As for her, it can be
noted that she is a rather easy influenced person, agreeing to walk to Newt, knowing that there will be
consequences for her feelings, emotional "Involuntarily, Catharine burst into tears", shy "You've never even
kissed me" she said, and she protected herself with her hands", but who doesn't fall for sweet words that
easily, trying to refuse Newt's courtesy "Did you think I would throw myself into your arms? ", "We shake
hands and part friends.", "I'm awfully busy, Newt.", but the love she carries for Newt manages to defeat her
"....she realized that what she had said was true, that a woman couldn't hide love." When Newt makes
remarks about Henry, the woman defends her future husband "I wouldn't marry him if I didn't love him!", "I
love Henry and I don't have to argue his merits with you!", but acknowledges that her feelings for Newt are
much stronger, being affected by his confessions "Catharine was angry and rattled, close to tears", "Rage!
said Catharine. She clenched her hands. "You have no right--"" She tries to refuse the man multiple times,
but finally gives up and accepts that she cannot deny her own feelings, forcing herself to marry someone
else for whom she does not feel the same emotions. This shows the woman's courage to do as her heart tells
her, choosing to cancel the wedding which was just around the corner, wishing, however, for a sign from
Newt, a sign that would change the course of matters ,,...knew that if he stopped and turned now, if he called
to her, she would have run to him. She would have had no choice." As far as Catharine's characterization is
concerned, we can see that she is a self-honest, kind, sensitive person and even if she is somewhat
overshadowed by Newt, he being a more eye-catching character by his deeds, words and behavior, she also
shows courage and bravery when it comes to the person she loves. Thus, the two share this quality, even if
their personalities are different. As for the literary devices, we can identify as it follows: the metaphor
"sisterly anguish", the comparison "as foolish as that", the oxymoron "grew smaller", the irony in the
sentence "Did you think I would throw myself into your arms?", and the onomatopoeia "chick-a-dee-dee-
dee". All of these are meant to allow the writer to convey a deeper meaning of the text, giving it creativity
and colour.
Rotaru Raluca Mihaela