preview

Owen Birnbaum 'Slob': A Character Analysis

Decent Essays

“I stood there for a minute feeling especially fat. I mean, I always feel fat, but sometimes I feel like a boulder. And I just stand there, letting it happen because I'm a boulder and that's what boulders do.” Owen Birnbaum’s life has been tragically altered due to the death of his parents. The result of this accident, is an eating habit that causes him to mentally call himself a boulder, one of the most meaningful symbols in the novel. Throughout Slob by Ellen Potter, there are a series of big and small symbols that identify significant parts of Owen’s life. To Owen, a boulder might just remind him of a giant heavy rock, representing his weight. The boulder symbolizes how Owen may get in the way or block others. Sometimes this can mean

Get Access