Character Study of "Junior Boys": "Skald" by W.D Valgardson

A junior boy, one of the main characters in the story “Skald” by W.D Valgardson, is a teacher. This 28 year old man is very small and has a bull shaped body with a very little neck. Three words to describe his personality would be self-centered, insecure and arrogant.

Self-centered describes Junior very very well because he only thinks about himself and his needs. Here are three examples that show how he is selfish. When Alma, his wife, got a dog and showed it to Junior, Junior’s response was “You should of asked me”. Also Junior’s desire contributes to his self-centeredness. When he wants something he will try to get it no matter what. Another example is when Junior accepted the first job he was offered in Bifrost in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t consult his wife even though they had agreed that he would only accept a job in a city, so Alma could keep her job.

Alma élete első futóversenyén

Slovenščina: http://teozofija.info/Karlin_Zbirka...

Deutsch: Alma (New Brunswick) bei Ebbe

All 3 of these examples show how Junior tries and likes to control everything.

Another trait of junior is insecurity. Junior is really insecure for different reasons. First, he doesn’t like people that are taller than him even though he is very small and most people are taller than him. A great situation to proof this in the story is when he drifted towards the window with his chair because his wife who was wearing boots, making her much taller than him, was standing beside him. Second example of this trait would be when Alma and him went inside the house of these 3 Icelandic, he sat on the edge of his chair like he expected he might have to flee. One last example of Juniors insecurity could be when Alma asked him if he woud like to go curling or skating, and Junior’s reply was “I can’t make tail nor head out of these sports”. But actually he was scared to make a fool out of himself in front of other people which leads to another trait of junior, arrogance.

The first example of Junior’s arrogance would be when Alma and him left the house of those 3 Icelandic men. While they were in there, one of them asked Junior to solve a riddle but he wasn’t able to and Alma was. So when they left the house, he said “I knew it was an egg”. Here he says that because he wants to look smart since he’s a teacher. The first time we see some of Junior’s arrogance is when Alma gets a dog, he said “I know everything about dogs”. The last example of this trait is when Alma killed her dog, Junior came out and said “I’d’ve done that… You had no need”. He said that but I’m sure if he really needed to, he would of let some else do it. He just wants other people to think that he is strongest, smartest and that he is best.

Self-centered, insecure and arrogant are three of many traits of Junior. Junior likes to be the boss. He takes decision by himself and when other takes decision they should always ask him since he knows everything about everything. Also Junior always has to look good. He can’t look like a fool, even to please his wife. Everything is about him and not about others.

English: Composer Toivo Kuula and his wife Alma. S...

Español: junior Español: junior del alma

Photographic portrait of Alma Mahler, wife of the ...