Character sketches | Class 10
First Flight and Foot Prints Without Feet
Lencho (A Letter to God)
Lencho is a hardworking farmer who deeply relies on nature for his livelihood. He has unwavering faith in God and believes that divine help will secure him in times of need. In a desperate situation, he writes a letter to God, requesting financial aid. His innocence and blind trust in divine intervention make him a unique character. He is simple, honest, and somewhat naïve, as he fails to recognize the source of the money he receives. His disappointment in the “dishonest” post office employees, despite their kindness, highlights his rigid belief system. Lencho represents the resilience and faith of poor farmers who depend entirely on nature and God for survival. His story underscores themes of faith, hope, and human kindness, even when misunderstood.
Postmaster (A Letter to God)
The postmaster is a kind-hearted and generous man who empathizes with Lencho's plight. Upon receiving Lencho's letter to God, he is deeply moved by the farmer's faith and decides to help. He collects money from his colleagues and contributes his own earnings to fulfill Lencho's request. His actions highlight his compassionate nature. Although he respects Lencho's misunderstanding, he does not seek acknowledgment or praise for his efforts, as the act itself is a reward for his character. He represents the unseen hands that prove that acts of goodness can exist without the need for acknowledgment. His character is a contrast to Lencho's innocence, showing that generosity does not always seek to be seen. His role in the story emphasizes themes of empathy, selflessness, and silent charity.
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager who documented her life in hiding during World War II. She was intelligent, courageous, and deeply observant. Despite her living conditions, Anne maintained hope and believed in human goodness. Through her diary, she expressed her emotions, thoughts, and struggles, making her relatable to readers across generations. Her love for writing became her escape from reality, and her ability to find beauty in small things reflected her resilience. Unfortunately, she did not survive the Holocaust, but her diary continues to inspire millions. She symbolizes the voice of the innocent victims of war and teaches us about hope, courage, and the power of words.
Nelson Mandela (A Long Walk to Freedom)
Nelson Mandela was a visionary leader, freedom fighter, and the first Black president of South Africa. He spent 27 years in prison, yet he emerged as an unbreakable icon of fighting racism. Mandela believed in equality for all, regardless of race, and advocated for reconciliation over vengeance. His ability to forgive even those who imprisoned him shows his extraordinary strength of character. Mandela's leadership was not limited to political achievements but also extended to promoting peace and human dignity. His life is a testament to the resilience of the mind and soul. His inspiring journey from prisoner to president is proof that one can transform oppression into a movement of love, sacrifice, and unity. His life remains a symbol of peace, tolerance, and the power of forgiveness.
Valli (Madam Rides the Bus)
Valli is an eight-year-old girl with a curious and adventurous spirit. She is fascinated by the idea of riding a bus and carefully plans her first solo journey. Her intelligence is evident in how she observes and gathers information about the bus schedule. Despite her young age, she is independent and confident, refraining from others during the journey. However, her innocence is also seen when she gets excited about simple things, like the sight of a cow on the road. Valli’s experience on the bus teaches her about life and death when she witnesses the same cow die. This moment makes her realize the reality of the world beyond her fantasies. Her character represents childhood curiosity, determination, and the bittersweet process of growing up.
The Bus Conductor (Madam Rides the Bus)
The bus conductor is a cheerful and kind man who plays an important role in Valli’s journey. He immediately notices her excitement and treats her with warmth and respect. Instead of dismissing her as a child, he playfully calls her "madam," making her feel important. He is patient with her many questions and ensures she is comfortable. His kindness contrasts with the roughness of the world, where the concerns of all adults are dismissive of children. However, he also respects her independence, not forcing her to accept his offer of treats. The bus conductor’s kindness is important as it provides Valli a sense of trust and impact. Through his character, the story highlights how compassion and a friendly attitude can make the world a more welcoming place, especially for a curious child like Valli.
The Pilot (The Black Aeroplane)
The pilot is a responsible and skilled aviator flying from France to England. He is excited to reach home and enjoy breakfast with his family. However, his journey takes a dangerous turn when he encounters a massive storm. Amid his panic, a mysterious black aeroplane emerges from nowhere, guiding him safely to his destination before vanishing without any words or delays. When he asks about the second plane, he learns that no other plane was seen on the radar. His character represents trust, courage, and the human tendency to believe in miracles during difficult moments. The mysterious pilot symbolizes hope, faith, and unexplained occurrences that give people renewed hope, making their journey easier despite unfavorable circumstances.
Baby Seagull’s Parents (His First Flight)
The baby seagull’s parents are strict yet caring, pushing him to learn an essential survival skill—flying. They refuse to feed him until he musters the courage to fly. Their actions seem harsh, but they come from a place of love. Their strictness is the result of a necessity to teach him independence. Their encouragement, combined with their watchful eyes, ultimately helps the baby seagull gain confidence. When he finally flies, he realizes that he was always capable, and his parents’ tough love was a push toward growth. Their actions emphasize that challenges and struggles are crucial for personal development. They symbolize the importance of courage and self-reliance, showing that true growth comes from facing fears rather than avoiding them.
The Flight Attendant (Mijbil the Otter)
The flight attendant in Mijbil the Otter is a kind, understanding, and compassionate woman. When the narrator, Gavin Maxwell, brings his pet otter, Mijbil, on the flight, she does not react negatively or strictly enforce airline rules. Instead, she is friendly and curious about Mijbil. She shows warmth and kindness when she offers to place the otter on the narrator’s lap instead of keeping him confined in a box. Her gentle nature comforts him and highlights the unexpected humanity in strangers. The narrator feels at ease, knowing that her actions reflect the extra care and empathy one can show toward animals and others. She represents kindness, empathy, and the ability to handle unexpected situations with patience and understanding, making her a minor but memorable character in the story.
Dr. Herriot (A Triumph of Surgery)
Dr. James Herriot is a kind, intelligent, and experienced veterinary surgeon. He is observant and quickly understands that Tricki, the overfed pet dog, is suffering due to his owner's excessive pampering. Instead of immediately prescribing medicine, he wisely takes Tricki to his clinic and puts him on a strict diet and exercise routine. His patience and deep understanding of animals help Tricki regain his health and vitality. Dr. Herriot believes that love alone does not solve all issues. By putting the pet on a balanced plan of care, his patience and professionalism make him a respected veterinarian. His empathy wins hearts but also has a sense of humor that lightens the mood. His character highlights the importance of responsible pet care and the need for expertise and discipline in treating animals effectively.
Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov (The Proposal)
Lomov is a 35-year-old, wealthy landowner who comes to propose to Natalya. He is nervous, formal, and highly sensitive, often getting into unnecessary arguments. Despite his intention to marry, he ends up quarreling over trivial issues with Natalya. His behavior reflects his anxiety, social insecurity, and lack of emotional control. Lomov’s indecisiveness and constant need for validation portray his weak personality. He doesn’t seek love but aims to maintain social status. His character highlights the absurdity of materialistic marriages, where personal compatibility is overshadowed by petty disputes. Despite his flaws, he is a well-meaning man who genuinely wishes to settle down. His exaggerated emotions and constant bickering make him a humorous figure, adding to the play’s satirical tone on marriage and aristocratic pride.
Natalya Stepanovna (The Proposal)
Natalya is a 25-year-old, strong-willed, and argumentative woman. She is intelligent but highly stubborn, often engaging in heated debates over minor issues. When Lomov visits, she initially treats him well but quickly shifts to defending her opinions fiercely, particularly about land and dogs. However, when she learns that Lomov came to propose, she immediately regrets her behavior and becomes eager to marry him. Her character contradictions humorously reflect the expectations of women in that era, where marriage was prioritized over compatibility. Despite her assertiveness, she is humorous and emotionally vulnerable. Her portrayal of arrogance highlights how pride and ego often take precedence over genuine emotions in arranged marriages.
Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov (The Proposal)
Chubukov is Natalya’s father, a landowner who is friendly but equally argumentative. He initially welcomes Lomov warmly, thinking he has come for business, but once the argument starts, he loses his temper and joins the quarrel. He is short-tempered, sarcastic, and concerned about social status. Despite his constant bickering, he is eager to see his daughter married and quickly switches behavior when Lomov proposes. Chubukov represents the hypocrisy of upper-class families, where marriage is more about financial and social gain than love. He exaggerates reactions and comic timing make him an amusing character, adding to the play’s satirical tone. He highlights the absurdity of marriage negotiations, where families focus more on petty disputes than on meaningful relationships.
Ausable (The Midnight Visitor)
Ausable is a secret agent, but unlike the typical spy stereotype, he is overweight and lives in a small, dull hotel room. He lacks the charm and physical strength often associated with spies but compensates with intelligence and quick thinking. Instead of panicking, he cleverly creates a story about a non-existent balcony outside his window. This trick leads his enemy, Max, to his own escape route—straight to a fatal fall.
Ausable’s character highlights the importance of wit over physical power. He represents how intelligence and presence of mind are the strengths of a successful spy. His ability to think under pressure and use psychological tactics make him a unique and admirable protagonist in the story.
Max (The Midnight Visitor)
Max is a rival spy who is overconfident and aggressive. He breaks into Ausable’s hotel room with a gun, demanding a secret report. Unlike Ausable, he is intelligent yet not composed, relying more on threats and intimidation. He believes he has control over the situation but is easily fooled by Ausable’s fictional story about a balcony. When he attempts to use it for an escape, he unknowingly falls to his death.
Max’s downfall serves as a contrast to Ausable, emphasizing that brute force and weapons are useless without intelligence. His overconfidence makes him reckless, proving that quick thinking and clever deception are more powerful than physical threats in high-stakes situations.
Horace Danby (A Question of Trust)
Horace Danby is a middle-aged, intelligent, and careful thief who specializes in robbing safes. Despite being a criminal, he is not a greedy man—he steals only once a year to fund his passion for rare books. He plans his burglaries meticulously, ensuring that he leaves no evidence behind. However, his overconfidence leads to his downfall when a woman pretending to be the owner of the house catches him. Horace is fooled into opening the safe for her.
This story highlights the theme of deception and trust. Though skillful, he is ultimately deceived, reinforcing the idea that honesty always offers a better path than deception.
Amanda (Amanda)
Amanda is a young girl with a vivid imagination and a deep longing for freedom. She feels constantly nagged and restricted by her mother’s continuous instructions about her behavior, posture, and cleanliness. To escape this constant criticism, Amanda retreats into her fantasy world, where she imagines herself as a mermaid swimming freely, an orphan living carefree, and a princess in a tower away from all constraints. Her dreams reflect her yearning for independence and her desire to break free from parental control. Her silence and withdrawal show her frustration and desire for independence. Amanda’s character highlights the theme of freedom and confinement, and the impact of excessive discipline. She symbolizes every child who craves space, creativity, and self-expression but is often misunderstood by adults. Through Amanda, the poem emphasizes the need for a balance between guidance and freedom in parenting.
Mathilde’s Husband (The Necklace)
Monsieur Loisel is a simple, hardworking, and caring husband who tries his best to make Mathilde happy. Unlike his wife, he is content with their modest lifestyle and does not crave wealth or luxury. He goes out of his way to secure an invitation to a grand ball, hoping to please Mathilde. However, he is unappreciated and taken for granted by her. When Mathilde loses the necklace, he selflessly sacrifices his savings and takes heavy loans to replace it, showing his devotion and unconditional love for his wife. He works tirelessly for ten years to repay the debt without complaint. His character represents devotion, selflessness, and the harsh reality of societal pressures. Despite his suffering, he never resorts to resignation, making him a tragic yet admirable figure who embodies genuine love and unwavering loyalty.
Madame Forestier (The Necklace)
Madame Forestier is a wealthy and kind-hearted woman in *The Necklace* by Guy de Maupassant. She is generous and helpful as she lends a diamond necklace to Mathilde, a beautiful but discontented lady. Unlike Mathilde, who desires a life of riches, Madame Forestier is humble and does not boast about her riches. Her most defining trait is her generosity and kindness, which contrast with Mathilde’s materialistic mindset. However, it is this very kindness that causes Mathilde to lose her true value. When Mathilde returns the replacement necklace after years of hardship, Madame Forestier’s genuine sympathy and warmth reflect her compassionate nature. Her character highlights the irony of Mathilde’s life—she symbolizes the deceptive nature of appearances and how a lack of perception and dishonesty can lead to unforeseen hardships. Her role adds a twist to the story’s tragic irony.
Mathilde Loisel (The Necklace)
Mathilde Loisel is a beautiful but discontented woman who constantly dreams of luxury and wealth. She feels unhappy with her modest life and believes she was born for greater things. Her vanity and pride make her disdain her middle-class status, and she longs for admiration. When she borrows a necklace from Madame Forestier to wear at the ball, she feels transformed and lives the fantasy of a rich woman. Tragically, her vanity leads her to conceal the truth, preferring hardship and suffering to admitting her mistake. Ironically, she spends ten years in poverty repaying her debt, only to discover that the necklace was fake. Mathilde symbolizes the consequences of vanity and the folly of valuing external beauty over honesty and contentment.
Think-Tank (The Book that Saved the Earth)
Think-Tank is the self-proclaimed ruler of Mars and the central antagonist of the story. He is arrogant, boastful, and believes himself to be the most intelligent being in the universe. However, his intelligence is superficial, as he lacks true understanding and critical thinking skills. His overconfidence leads him to misinterpret simple Earth books as secret weapons, causing him to panic and order an attack on Earth.
Despite his flaws, Think-Tank reveals his balancing qualities of quick thinking, avoiding war, and intelligence. His exaggerated sense of superiority makes him a humorous character, highlighting the dangers of arrogance without wisdom. He represents leaders who act without proper knowledge, making rash decisions based on false assumptions. The narrative ridicules his lack of foresight and shows that abandoning his supposed invasion of Earth showcases the power of intelligence over mere authority.
Fowler (The Midnight Visitor)
Fowler is a young writer who is eager to meet a real spy, expecting thrilling action and danger. However, when he meets Ausable, he is disappointed by his unimpressive appearance and boring surroundings. He assumes that Ausable is not an exciting secret agent. As the story unfolds, he witnesses Ausable’s clever manipulation and calm handling of a dangerous situation, which changes his perception of intelligence and courage.
Fowler represents the typical audience that often judges others based on outward appearances. Through his character, the story emphasizes that true brilliance lies not in physical strength but in mental sharpness and quick thinking. By the end, Fowler learns a valuable lesson about wit and deception that Hollywood-style action, making him an important figure in the story’s theme.
The Woman in Red (A Question of Trust)
The woman in red is a mysterious and cunning figure who outsmarts Horace Danby. She pretends to be the owner of the house and manipulates him into opening the safe for her. Her confidence, intelligence, and charm help her to convincingly deceive Horace, unlike Horace who avoids violence, the woman proves to be more dangerous because of her wit.
Her character’s deception and skill highlight the unpredictability of human nature. She proves to be a better thief than Horace, who believes that he can manipulate situations to his advantage. Through this twist in the story, the woman in red teaches a lesson about trust and betrayal, reinforcing the story’s message that crime always carries risks, no matter how clever one thinks they are.
Custard (The Tale of Custard the Dragon)
Custard is Belinda's pet dragon, often mocked for being cowardly. Unlike Ink, Blink, and Mustard, Custard does not boast about his bravery and openly admits his fears. However, when danger arrives in the form of a pirate, Custard proves to be the true hero by fearlessly fighting and defeating him.
His character highlights the theme that real courage is about action, not words. He teaches that being afraid does not mean one cannot be brave. His quiet strength and self-awareness reflect deeper courage, showing how genuine nature makes him different from the other pets, who pretend to be brave but flee when trouble comes. Despite proving himself, Custard does not gloat, showing his humility. His character serves as an important lesson that true bravery comes from deeds, not empty claims.
Noodle (The Book that Saved the Earth)
Noodle is the intelligent and sensible assistant of Think-Tank. Unlike his arrogant leader, Noodle is calm, observant, and logical. He does not blindly follow orders but carefully analyzes situations before responding. His intelligence is evident in how he subtly corrects Think-Tank without directly challenging his authority.
Despite being in a lower position, Noodle plays a crucial role in guiding Think-Tank toward the right conclusions. He patiently listens and offers valuable insights, proving that wisdom is not about power but understanding. His quiet confidence contrasts with Think-Tank's loud arrogance, making him the true intellect of the Martian group.
Noodle represents the importance of humility and rational thinking. His character teaches that true leadership comes from knowledge and patience, not just authority. Through him, the story highlights how intelligence and wisdom can outshine blind ego and false pride.
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